One Hundred Years
by destinoscelgo
Summary: 100 years in the future, a war rages between the werewolves,vampires and the witches. Fighting for survival, they make unlikely allegiances but they realize that is not enough. They need the help of certain desiccated Originals. One thing they are quick to realize, war changes everyone Extended summary inside
1. Prologue

**Okay so this is my newest idea...(it's actually not new at all as it has been forming in my head for waaaay too long.) and I am way too excited to post it.  
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**I'm going to give an extended summary here, and an apology. I am going to have this listed as an Elijah/Elena fic but Elijah does not enter the story until the later chapters, and he does appear in a couple of flashbacks. I just didn't want to list it as Elena/Damon because in the end, I am probably going to make EE endgame (although there is always the possibility of that changing.)  
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**Anyway, so it has been one hundred years, but NO WORRIES there are going to be a buttload of flashbacks to fill you in on just what has been happening with the Mystic Falls trio.  
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**Also note that there are character deaths (stated right in the beginning for the most part) but don't shy away just yet! And this chapter itself is in first person (Elena's journal) but the rest of the story will be in third person where I think you will learn a lot more of what is happening.)  
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**I really hope you guys will enjoy this story, it is going to take me a while to get chapters up as I have a couple of other fics under way, but I really want this to work out. So PLEASE review and let me know what you think, chances are the more feedback I get, the faster I will bang the chapters out (I'm a glutton for feedback, I need it lol)  
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**On that note, please enjoy and review!  
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**_Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries or it's characters._  
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**One Hundred Years**

**Prologue:**

_December 30__th__ 2112_

Tomorrow we ring in the New Year, well…technically.

One week ago counts exactly one hundred years since I was turned into a vampire, and had anyone asked me the day I woke up, hungry-the thirst for blood driving my intentions- I never would have expected to say that I would be where I am now.

There is no "where" anymore, because Mystic Falls, the "here" in my own story-the largest chapter of my life- is gone.

Nothing more than a desolate war zone, my home town has been destroyed in a fight for survival between the vampires and witches. We (and by "we" I mean Damon, myself, Stefan and Caroline) managed to side with the werewolves, thanks to Tyler-for a price.

Right now while I write this, on a spare loose piece of paper that I found in an antique desk belonging to an old…personal friend of mine, I could be celebrating. I have hit my second milestone of being a vampire. They say one hundred years is not a long time for my kind, but to me…watching those around me grow, it feels like an eternity.

However, I cannot celebrate. It was yesterday that I was told I lost one more person close to me. Yet one more lost to the trivial acts of war.

Stefan, the first vampire I met (or so I had originally believed) had been captured by the witches early in the morning. I can only hope that he is dead. I could never imagine the horrible things they may do to him if he remained alive.

I guess for the sake of record I should tell my story. Maybe one day-if I have to flee this safe house and forget this or if I also fall to the hands of the witches- someone will read my words, and know the truth of what is happening here, and how we ended up in this hell, as it has also been one hundred years since I have acknowledged my diary, which is long gone now.

Twenty years ago, a powerful witch, in hopes of protecting humanity (as most witches do) called upon the powers of each witch line, instead of just her own. She used their power in hopes to save those she loved, at least…I tell myself that that was what she was trying to do. Something, as is the theme of Mystic Falls, went terribly wrong.

It had all happened so fast and I remember hardly being able to mourn my brothers passing when they died.

At least…two out of four.

Kol and Rebekah passed, Rebekah turning to ash right in front of Damon and Tyler as if she were never even there. We found out not long after, from the only witch left who would give us the light of day, that the one who called upon their powers, had used too much as she ended the two Originals and in turn her spell only half worked on Elijah and Klaus, desiccating them before her own life faded away.

With Kol and Rebekah's demise, we lost half of the vampire population, maybe even more as it always seemed so…out of Elijah's character to turn others into what we were, but then again…I do not know much about his past. I never pushed him to explain anything more than he wanted to.

Regardless, we are lucky to be alive since it wasn't long after that the witches aimed for our heads.

They blamed us –as in the vampires and werewolves- for weakening their power. They claimed we compelled the witch to do it, even though we knew it wasn't possible. We also had no way of knowing that when she cast the spell, she would keep their powers when she died. I had come to wonder over the years, if that had been her original plan all along, to weaken the witches, even though they believed now there was an imbalance in nature.

Anything was possible

With Klaus desiccated, most of the hybrids scattered, leaving only Tyler to stand between the wolves and the vampires who were ready to push the blame off on the other species, nearly causing a war between them as well.

However, with so much lost, and knowing we both shared a common enemy in the witches now, we had to work together, but without any trust from either side, we made a deal. The wolves, using their much stronger sense of smell (especially when it came to finding vampires) quickly hunted down the bodies of the two remaining Originals, but only under the condition that they held the bodies.

They wanted to use Elijah and Klaus as bargaining chips, to ensure that we didn't betray them, and in return they would help us since the witches pushed the blame on the vampires for the wrongdoing. It was only in order to hold the balance that they would attack the wolves.

We had no choice, we had to keep going, we needed to survive.

So now, the humans have since fled Mystic Falls, with the help of the vampires who compelled them all to go. The town has become an epicenter for the war, the outskirts being hardly safe as well. The witches have torn us apart, and we struggle for survival each day, making out of place allegiances, using what we can to just make it through to tomorrow.

The world has changed for our kind-those not entirely human- and while the human's may believe it was a major gas leak, we know the truth.

I will say, through all of this, that I am glad my friends-those that remained human- did not live long enough to see this.

Matt, Jeremy, Bonnie and even Dr. Fell got to live their lives to the fullest and that is all I could ever ask for. Even after I was turned I was able to live my life among friends so even if I died tomorrow I know I would have lived a full life full of happiness, sad moments and great relationships.

Thinking back, I remember the last time I wrote, I remember being torn between the two Salvatore brothers so for the sake of breaking off of the story of my future, and for my own sanity and self I can say this. My choice for which Salvatore I chose had remained irrelevant for the first year and to my own surprise, they both understood. I was going through too much to worry about my love life.

In the end, I chose Damon, his charm, our laughs and his good side reminded me to remain strong, but that only lasted for a few years (much longer than Caroline had predicted) as remaining in someone else's shadow, despite his arguments, had proven fruitless. I needed to grow, and to do that I needed my best friend Damon, not my lover Damon. That is how we are, even to this day regardless of our disagreement on how to keep ourselves alive. I will continue to care for his safety as we are in this together.

It's my turn to keep watch now, so I am done writing. I have to remind myself to keep going with this, maybe Elijah has a notebook hidden somewhere that is unused, one that I can keep safe in case we have to flee again.

_-Always; _

_Elena Gilbert  
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**So what do you think? Please do let me know if there is anything you think I should change, if anything is confusing etc (a lot will be answered in later chapters, this is just Elena's journal entry.) Anyway, please do let me know!**


	2. It Changes Us

**Phew! Finally got this up for you guys :) I am truly amazed by all of the feedback from just the prologue! I hope I don't disappoint and I hope I get the same on this chapter, because that would be amazing (because you guys are so amazing it's not even funny)**

**Also I apologize for taking forever to get this up, I am working on my other fic again Even in Death so my time is split, but expect at minimum weekly updates on all of my stories :)  
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**I hope you enjoy! As usual, disclaimer applies.  
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**Chapter One: It Changes Us**

**One Month Later**

The witches-though weakened by the spell that killed Kol and Rebekah- were still a force that was difficult to contend with, so while Elena and Caroline slid down the hallway of the now abandoned Mystic Falls General Hospital, they remained on alert.

They had lost too much already.

Elena recalled how so many years ago, she woke up here- as a vampire. Now she found herself searching the desolate building. All for the remaining blood bags from the deliveries she had arranged by making sure she was very convincing to a team of vampires, who were hardly able to sneak out of the town themselves.

"Maybe…and I am going to kick myself for saying this…but maybe Damon had the right idea." Caroline stopped walking as she peered into an empty room while catching a glance at her disheveled appearance.

"You know Damon is not doing the right thing Care, now knock it off and stop staring at yourself."

Elena sighed as she continued forward, accidentally taking a look at her own image as well. It was times like these that she wished the myth about vampires not having a reflection had been true. Her hair was matted, even being held up in a ponytail, it seemed dull and knotted as it traveled down her back, past her shoulders where the smallest knots were beginning to form. Even her clothes were ruined, her black tank top worn mostly so the blood stains wouldn't show but even in the dim hospital light-running completely on generators as there was no more electricity- she could see the marks and each one had a different name. She fixed her denim jeans, tucked tightly into her boots, which could have looked like they were a new fashion statement (or an older, more unpopular one) as they were ripped at the knees. Elena Gilbert looked like she belonged in a horror movie, but to see if she was the mass murderer or the victim, was still left undecided.

Caroline mumbled something long winded, and at first Elena thought her friend was only talking to herself until she heard her clear her throat.

The brunette looked up to see Caroline push her blonde hair- it's usual bounce now lay flat with loss of life- away from her eyes with a glare.

"Are you listening to me?" she scorned and Elena shook her head. "I said at least Damon doesn't have to go out and search for food like a dog!"

Elena stopped in her tracks, and Caroline recoiled assuming it was due to her words, but she had heard a noise from behind them making her ignore her friend's repetitious remark. They have had this fight before and there were more important matters to take care of right now.

They were not alone.

Without explaining to Caroline what was happening, Elena pushed her friend into the room and pressed both of their bodies flat against the wall.

Listening intently, thankful that she didn't have to explain to her friend what was happening as Caroline adjusted to their new way of life just as she had. This was no longer Mystic Falls their home, this was Mystic Falls their prison as they were not able to escape. Witches were cutting down vampires one by one forcing them to remain in the town, fighting for their lives.

Elena listened closely to the sound of footsteps clicking down the hallway as she allowed her mind to drift. She began to wonder how Damon's means of survival- keeping the few remaining Mystic Falls residents as human donors, ensuring they have a constant supply of blood without any problems, was better than her own.

She still, even after all of these years, valued human life as a trait she would never let go of which was why when she caught the oldest Salvatore feeding behind her back, slowly gaining a following of his own, she felt betrayed.

"_You cannot be serious Damon!" Elena shrieked one night two years ago. _

_She had walked into his room to ask if he needed anything, only to catch him with Melissa, one of the human rescues that Elena herself had pulled from a housing wreckage as she was unable to escape._

_To say she was infuriated was putting it lightly; the vampire hated having the wool pulled over her eyes, but being it was by Damon shouldn't have been a surprise. She should have known better, but also knowing that the brother who had been one of her closest friends-even if they were ex-lovers (or boyfriend/girlfriend, whichever one seemed fit for the moment.)_ _The betrayal hurt like a dagger to the chest._

_The Salvatore released the girl with a sheepish grin and Elena caught her as she stumbled, nearly falling to the ground she was so dizzy. Quickly, she examined the wound and bit into her own wrist, allowing her blood to flow into the girl's mouth. _

_She was still a teenager, and he was using her as a cow._

"_Does Stefan know about this?" she pried before turning the girl towards her, looking her into her eyes. "Leave this room, forget this ever happened." She compelled her. Melissa-the frail looking blonde, nodded and drifted out the door without a word, closing it behind her._

"_What makes you think I'm hiding it?" Damon sneered, his eyes reverting back to normal, "I don't need to tell you everything you know."_

_Elena rolled her eyes in frustration as she subconsciously tapped her foot. She began to feel like his mother, and like her own mother used to do, she called for the one person (her father) who she knew would take her side._

"_Stefan!"_

_In an instant, Damon's younger brother was by her side looking to them both curiously as Damon wiped the blood from his lip._

"_Stefan, did you know Damon has been feeding on the humans?"_

_The younger Salvatore looked stressed as he glared at his brother, giving Elena the impression he had already known._

"_Damon, you know you can't be doing that." Was all he said as Damon's blue eyes turned to ice as he shot up to Stefan glaring at him fiercely._

"_Are you standing in my way brother?" he growled into his face, "That's not such a good idea."_

"_Damon these are innocent people! You can't just feed on them, they are trusting us to protect them, not use them as meals on wheels!" _

"_I call it payment for our services" he sneered, challenging his brother. _

_Stefan, even after all of the fighting, the deaths and the stressful situation, had been struggling to keep his own course of the "bunny diet" as Damon called it. He didn't deny the fact that he now had to drink from blood bags to control himself so he was already breaking his "no human blood" rule, even though that rule went out the window merely months after the witches began to attack._

_He pushed his brother back, making him topple down onto the ground as he snarled. "This is wrong brother, even you know this."_

_Damon stood sharply, brushing himself off with dignity, refusing to look Stefan in the eye._

"_Whatever." He rolled his eyes and glared at Elena before grabbing his coat off the door knob, storming out._

That was Damon's last night in their old safe house-the Salvatore Manor. He left that night and before anyone could stop him, he compelled Melissa and another human rescue to follow him. Not long after other vampires began to travel and by the time Elena and Caroline decided to move out to the newest safe house, the abandoned Mikaelson mansion, which had been left empty once the Originals were taken down, their numbers were down to eight.

Elena would have preferred to stay in the Gilbert home, but that was one of the first houses to be set ablaze in the witches rampant attempt to take out as many vampires as possible.

Each night, Elena thanked the stars that the witches powers were exceptionally weaker, if they had been at full strength, there was no doubt the vampires and werewolves would be dead, and then there would be no more balance to be restored.

"I think she's gone." Caroline whispered as she peered out the small door window.

Elena reached for her knife that she kept tucked in her boot-a gut reaction that she had established since the war started. She put her finger to her lips, edging closer to the door. The two vampires could easily overpower one witch, but multiple would be an issue as they had strength in numbers, which caused them to become like the wolves, and only travel in packs so it was unlikely she was alone.

Caroline slowly opened the door so Elena could poke her head out to see if anyone was in the hall. When she saw the coast was clear, she grabbed her friend's hand to keep her close behind. Caroline Forbes and Elena Gilbert were a team, best friends, allies and had unlimited trust in one another. They protected each other with all that they had.

As a human, Elena was rarely the stealthy type, but since being a vampire- and with extra training from a certain Original she had allowed herself to become close to, she had picked up rather quickly on a few things. She hugged the walls with her friend close behind as they aimed for the room where the blood bags were kept.

"Come on, we need to hurry."

Elena cleared the area quickly, she had learned to always be on alert for a fight. She stood by the door on watch while Caroline put the bags in her portable cooler, they needed to take every precaution since these deliveries rarely occurred anymore, it was becoming increasingly difficult for the team of vampires to get in and out of the town.

"There aren't a lot here Elena…" the blonde worried, "Do you think we will get another shipment?"

Elena shrugged as she looked outside again. She knew that the woman who was roaming the halls was still in the hospital, so they needed to get in…and get out as quickly as possible.

"Hurry up Care,: said the brunette impatiently, not only was she beginning to get nervous, but being near the blood was bringing her hunger out. Out of the rest of the group she and Caroline had the best self-control but that didn't mean either of them were perfect. They hadn't fed in a few days after all.

"Done!' she announced closing the door to the containment cabinet. "Let's go!"

Elena always admired Caroline's bubbly attitude, even in one hundred years and the present state of Mystic Falls- her home town- she kept smiling. Sure her demeanor was more rigid now, tougher even- but she was a deceitful one, always walking like she didn't have a care in the world. Even after she sat at her mother's death bed she held strong.

Elena envied this about her, she found herself…changed once everything began. She remembered once how Elijah begged her to never change, promising her always and forever in the same letter solidifying his feelings, solidifying _them_ even though she didn't know it at the time, at least…she didn't want to admit it out of fear of more betrayal, but yet here she was now going against his hopes-she was prepared to kill any witch that crossed her path.

_War changes everyone._ She told herself, but she was not convinced.

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When it came down to it, Damon Salvatore did as he pleased.

He knew he wasn't wrong for using the humans; he wouldn't let Elena's distraught expression haunt him. He wasn't about to feel bad for trying to survive.

It had been two years since he left her "group" and once in a while, they would still meet up; even though it has been a long time. They didn't have social calls anymore.

Elena had changed since the witches began attacking, she was still her obnoxiously moral self, but she was equally battle focused. The missing piece was her reasoning. She was fighting not for herself, but for the people of Mystic Falls, it could be her downfall and that concerned the older Salvatore.

He missed the old Elena, the almost child-like, fun-loving Elena Gilbert, the one who would do anything for her friends, even die for them but all of that without hurting a fly. Now she was willing to tear into a witch if she got the chance and cry about it later.

Now she was cold and ruthless, torn apart by instead of two vampire brothers but by her own compassion and the need for her friends to survive. They were all just fighting to survive but that didn't change anything.

Damon smiled at the thought of how much war could change those around you.

"Dude…are you all right?"

The vampire's attention snapped back to reality, a reality he didn't want to be living in.

"Yeah I'm fine." He replied, looking to the gruff, bearded man, his black hair slicked back into a ponytail. His name was Jack, a hybrid turned during Klaus and Stefan's reign of terror, and since Stefan's capture, he had been helping Damon assisting the other vampires in their survival.

_It was one month ago that Damon lost his brother. Before that, it had been one year since Stefan joined him, leaving Elena's side in the Mikaelson's home, secretly doing so as a way to preserve the blood bags (an idea Damon still found ludicrous). As always, his brother sacrificed his humanity for Elena, just as he had done time and time again, only to be left in the dark _

"_Come on Stef, let her go." Damon directed his younger brother. He had to keep a close eye on Stefan since he had joined "his side" as once in a while he would drink too much, nearly killing the only humans they had._

"_Sorry brother." Stefan apologized, even though he didn't mean it. He handed the girl to him so Damon could give her his own blood to heal._

"_Come on, pick yourself up, we have things to do."_

_Stefan, wearing only a pair of worn blue jeans, stood gracefully and followed his brother up the steps to the living room of the Boarding house. _

_Once Elena and Caroline left the house to head to the much larger Mikaelson mansion, Damon brought everyone back to his home-where Stefan had stayed hoping to be left alone, but was never so lucky. It was much safer there than holding themselves up in the woods with Tyler and his wolf pack._

_The house still looked the same-just like the creatures that survived in it- never changing. For years, the furniture remained still in the times, always in the same place and never moving. Once in a while Damon would see the memories of Elena curled up, wrapped in a blanket with him, and curved into his arms with a book in her hand. It reminded him of the days before things became complicated, and even though the good days were over now, he had learned to accept it. He hadn't lost her entirely after all, and that was what mattered the most to him. He still loved Elena, but things have changed, he knew she did not love him in return._

_Pulling out of his own memory, Damon recognized the only sign of life in the boarding house, a glass left carelessly on the counter, and had it not been for that, or the soft footsteps on the hardwood floor, one would think that nobody lived there, and that is just how Damon wanted it to be. As long as the house remained "empty" the witches would leave it alone, which was why he chose to return in the first place knowing they would think everyone had left. _

_Or so he thought._

_A loud shriek coursed through the halls by the front of the house to bring each vampire-all six of them- and Jack, the only hybrid there who could change at will, to snap their attention._

_Damon and Stefan were the first to rush the door as it exploded open with a bang, and a small vampire with short choppy red hair that Damon had aptly named "Pixie Dust" barreled past them, screaming in agony. A quick look over by Damon, and he saw an arrow from a cross bow through the girl's neck._

"_Everyone get ready!" Damon yelled scooping the screaming girl into his arms, "Do you have my back brother?"_

_Stefan nodded as he ran to the closet, pulling out a knife and crossbow, arming it and ready to go. _

_How things have changed, even during the worst times before all of this, there were never weapons in every corner of their house. _

_Damon ran into the bathroom while "Pixie Dust" struggled not to cry._

"_You'll be fine." He soothed, breaking the point off of the arrow. "Just keep your eyes on me." The vampire held his gaze, two tears running down her cheeks. There was another explosion outside this time, it was an echoed pop, different from before. Damon, now needing to rush the process yanked the arrow out, causing the red head to let out an agonizing scream._

"_Sorry Pix." He apologized instantly, "Stay here, I'll have to get you blood."_

"_Ma-Marla" the girl sputtered, holding her neck._

"_What?" _

"_My name is not Pixie, it's Marla."_

_Damon smiled and opened the door to hear screaming from the other room._

_Thankfully, it had been night out, otherwise most of the vampires would have been toast but all it takes is one vervain grenade to incapacitate most of them._

_Damon ran towards the door, but felt like he went smack into a brick wall, the vervain was powerful, weakening himself and each vampire, giving the witches the upper hand while they went in for an attack. The older Salvatore could hear Stefan fighting through the vampire poison as they both had built up more of a tolerance over the years. It still burned, but the pain was manageable. _

_Rushing through, he blindly fought the pain as he made contact with a witch, swiftly snapping her neck and he could hear the other's scream at her death. _

"_Let's go!" he heard a man call over the howling of those injured in battle._

_Damon searched for more witches as the smoke from the attack cleared, but they had fled._

_Calling for Stefan, he couldn't find his brother anywhere and he began to search frantically when he heard a low groan as Jack stood and approached him._

"_They took him Damon. They grabbed him and fled."_

That night, Jack was the one to deliver the message to Elena about Stefan's capture. His ability to change at will and almost control himself in a wolf form (just enough to change back when need be) made him the perfect messenger between the two parties, but he was also a powerful ally to have on his side as it seemed only him and Tyler were left of Klaus' hybrid family

"Sometimes Damon, I don't know what you are pining over more, the loss of your brother, or your loss of your girl. Whichever girl it is this time at least. "

"There is only one girl." Damon growled through his teeth, "And she isn't mine." Elena had made that clear enough years ago.

She just wouldn't tear the brothers apart like Katherine had, she had told them. She left for a while after that, cutting both Salvatores out in the process until she returned, which was just in time for the witches to go crazy.

"Well, at least I know we are both talking about the same someone." He laughed, "Considering Katherine Pierce is dead."

The vampire twitched at the first doppelganger both him and his brother fought over. She was the first of the older vampires to fall victim to the witches, and that time…as much as it destroyed Damon's heart on the inside, he was sure she was gone for good.

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"Did you get the message out?" Tyler kept himself perched on a strong branch, always on the lookout. They weren't safe where they were since the woods were surrounded by witches who did everything in their power to make sure they stayed put. They wouldn't attack however, until they made a move that much had been made obvious.

They were trapped in the forest for two years, and on the run for twenty trying to stay alive as the witches made every effort to prevent any wolves-or worse, hybrids- from helping out the vampires.

"Yeah, it may take a while to get to her though."

The hybrid-Klaus' first successful creation- nodded in understanding. He didn't care, as long as it got to her.

It had to make it's way to Caroline.

Since the war started, with the very first brutal attack from the witches at the Lockwood property, they have been separated, each fighting their own battles.

"Tyler…we cannot keep living like this." A young man with shaggy blonde hair stated with distaste. The words hadn't been random, the pack had been debating their future actions for the past couple of days, and unsure of what their move would be which is why he sent a message to Caroline, hoping they could find each other.

"We never should have sided with the vampires."

A low murmur of agreement carried around the trees where the rest of his pack was hidden. Since the beginning, Tyler has been dealing with the internal struggles of his wolves, and while they followed him and trusted his decisions, but once the witches surrounded their camp-taking away their freedom- they began to become restless, torn between the decision to fight back, or remain in the woods like helpless animals trapped in a zoo.

Tyler had chosen to stay still, he didn't want to risk the lives of those around him. Already by offering his help, playing as negotiator between the two species, he had put Caroline's life at risk, that was how they ended up separated in the first place.

"I'll figure something out." It was a half-hearted way of trying to convince the others they would be okay, he had everything under control.

However, Tyler Lockwood, unlike the generations before him, was hardly a leader. He was simply one hybrid out of who knows how many, to have the right (or possibly wrong) friends in order to make sure the wolves and vampires didn't rip each other apart. Yet somehow, he was the one they could trust, he was the one they looked to for answers even though he had none. For the past twenty years, he has kept his wolves hidden, breaking his pact with Damon to help. His cowardice is what kept them trapped and in turn, throwing Caroline, the woman he had loved, into the field of battle.

He wanted her to be safe, and he knew twenty years was a very long time so he could only hope she adapted.

"We need to fight back." The hybrid announced jumping down from his tree to be instantly surrounded by the pack. "We need to keep our word to the vampires."

He heard some of the wolves agree, but the rest-the majority- remained silent.

"It has been two years Tyler, the older ones of us have aged," One wolf, who had been his age when the war started, spoke up, "We are not all immortal like you are."

He was right, twenty years ago, the men and women that stood before him, taking his side at the first sign of war, were nearly his age before he turned, they had stood and fought by his side while fighting for their lives in hopes of an alliance with their "night walker" enemies.

"We will fight our way out." Tyler's voice was as powerful as it always had been, but this time was different and the pack could see it. This time he had conviction.

"There is no other way, and you are all right, we cannot live like this."

Tyler was never a leader, but he knew it was time to rise to the occasion.

War changes everyone; even those hidden in the shadows.

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**I hope you enjoyed this! I know a lot of you will probably hate me forever and ever for killing off Katherine, but you will have to wait and see to the end (there is also a flashback in the next chapter explaining how it happens to her) so don't give up just yet ;) **

**Also, no Elijah in this chapter, just mere mentions for now until a bit later and you will see soon enough as to how he comes into play.  
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**Please please review! I am a glutton for it and I love to hear all feedback, anything specific you want to see in a flashback? Let me know there should be a long story ahead so I have a lot of wiggle room  
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**So please, do not hesitate to tell me what you think and we can be best friends or something else awesome  
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	3. Everything Happens for a Reason

**Okay so I finally got this chapter up after two weeks lol. Sorry you guys and thanks for the patience I am going to try and keep up on the chapters from here on out.  
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**The usual disclaimer still applies (as it will for the rest of this story) and please do review :) I cannot begin to tell you guys how much I appreciate hearing your thoughts.  
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**Anyway, I hope you enjoy!  
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**Chapter Two**

**Everything Happens for a Reason**

"Hello?! Is anybody out there?" Stefan paced back and forth, caged-like a dog. He had just woken up, the thirst for blood stirring him from the rest he had been unknowingly forced upon. It was the only way he could control the hunger. Feeling like he was hit in the head with a brick, the vampire gripped the bars for balance, only to scream at the burn of the vervain covering the rusted metal texture.

"Hey!" he yelled, looking over his hand. It wasn't healing at it's normal rate, so Stefan knew he had been in there for a decent amount of time. Eyeing his surroundings, his nose filled with the stench of moisture, dirt…and death.

"Do you know where you are?" Stefan turned back to the bars to see an older woman, her black hair greying at the roots, and knotty. She looked worn, her once beautiful pale skin was wrinkled like a piece of old paper.

_Had she been thrown in the trash as well?_

"No…do you care to inform me?" He wasn't about to try and make friends, this woman was on the other side of the bars, so it was highly unlikely she was an ally. She definitely was not a vampire or wolf, so there was only one other option.

Witch.

The woman laughed as she approached, placing her face against the bars, the vampire could hear her heart beating casually. She wasn't afraid of him. "No, not in particular. You must be thirsty." She grinned with a teasing wink and up until she had said anything, he had forgotten of his hunger when he realized he was in an unknown room, captured. His throat burned as his hands began to twitch and with a low growl he could feel his face change as the thirst took over.

"Are you volunteering?" a snarl escaped his lips as he rushed the bars, careful not to touch them this time as he cocked his head to the side.

"Oh my lord, no dear. I am not foolish enough to allow a vampire who has not fed in a month to feed on my blood!" Conveniently, the woman left out the phrase _or ever _as if just to tease him again, but the Salvatore was shocked, recoiling at the woman's words and had nearly forgotten about his hunger.

"A month!?" he exclaimed turning around again to look at the wall where a set of chains hung, untouched in years. He had to regain his control before he drove himself mad, but the stranger found nothing more than amusement in his anger.

With a sigh, she banged on the cage, acting as a rude child would treat an animal at the zoo. "Yeah, I guess we are sorry about that." She paused, tapping her finger on the bar, "Except we aren't really. You see…your kind capture my sisters only to use them as walking blood bags. We aren't going to just…allow you to kill us all without a fight, and taking some of our own bargaining chips.

Stefan stiffened before turning around slowly, "What is it you want then? Do you expect to trade me for your witches? Because I can guarantee my brother does not have any of your so called sisters." The vampire found the woman's ignorance comical, something he felt the need to mock. Of course he knew she wouldn't believe him, so nothing he said actually mattered.

"That may have been the idea vampire." Replied the witch, "We already have sent a messenger…or five, to offer your friend Elena and also your brother our deal."

"Oh yeah? What deal is that?" Stefan shot back. He was beginning to struggle with his hunger as his agitation grew.

"We will trade you…for one Original."

Now she was getting cocky and in turn, aggravating her vampire captive even more.

"That wouldn't do me any good thanks to the bloodlines. We will die anyway if they do that. I…and my brother with Elena as well could die." Stefan sneered through his teeth, but the greying witch cackled, only emphasizing her age.

"Well you see that's fine. I figured in the spirit of negotiations we will trade you for…the oldest."

"You mean Elijah?"

The witch nodded happily at his reaction, which wasn't as nervous as before. As far as they knew, Klaus was the sire of their bloodline, so they would be safe.

"Yes, Elijah Mikaelson and his bloodline, for you." She pointed to him with a raised eyebrow before turning to leave.

"No." Stefan spoke softly, after giving the offer only a seconds thought. "No way."

The witch stopped at the large steel plated door and returned to his gaze, "The good thing about this arrangement is…it's not up to you and I hope that for your sake one of them agrees. I guess we will have to see."

Stefan leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor to put his head in his hands. The stress was beginning to blind him with the hunger and his mind began to race back and forth between his brother and Elena. He knew Elena would be hesitant, only for two reasons, the main one being Elijah. For some strange reason she cared for the Original, but secondly, the most important part; the number of vampires that would fall with his death.

Damon was a different story, he would probably make a sarcastic comment, and may end up agreeing even though he hoped his brother would say no but as long as Elena was by his side, it was likely.

Closing his eyes, Stefan tried to fight his bloodlust, the feeling beginning to rip him from the insides like an animal tearing through it's prey. Focusing on old memories, his brain shifted it's way to Katherine, the first doppelganger him and his brother fought over before Elena.

The one that the younger doppelganger allowed to step in between her and Damon, without Katherine's actual involvement.

_The Grill was empty, so Stefan ducked in, hoping to dodge any witches that may have been following him. He had been out hunting, hoping to find some kind of wild life to feed on. Elena had made the habit of stealing the bags from the hospital (and convincing a group of vampires to "take over the shipment" so they would still get a supply coming through.) as a means of survival, but Stefan did not want to touch the human blood as long as it wasn't necessary._

_Running his fingers along the bar of the Grill, he picked up a trail of dust left from the two weeks since the humans (the few left) fled Mystic Falls due to the massive "gas leak" . A shuffle from the kitchen brought his attention away from the decrepit scenery and he quickly ducked behind the first table he could, and listened while the door opened and soft footsteps exited the kitchen._

_It was a vampire, he figured by the lack of heartbeat and by the smell of the rose perfume, female._

"_I can hear you…" a rough voice cooed and Stefan recognized it immediately. Slowly standing up, he faced Katherine, dressed in a form hugging deep purple dress that was not situation appropriate-as usual- and her long brown curls flowed down her back._

"_Katherine…Last I remember, you fled." He pointed out a hint of disconcertion in his tone. He hadn't seen her in years._

"_Last I remember, I said I wasn't coming back until Klaus was gone. Of course when I got the news, I didn't expect the entire town to be in shambles! I didn't realize that the Original's held it all together."_

_Stefan shook his head and peered out the door, he could hear voices, but they were still far enough way. Katherine must have heard them too, as she waved him on and quietly swung the kitchen door open to lead him inside._

"_This is where you have been hiding?" asked Stefan in a whisper, following the woman who turned him to the far corner of the room. Katherine was always the spoiled type. She always wore the best of clothes, and wherever she traveled she always stayed in a first class hotel, or compelled someone with a mansion. This was more than out of her character, so she must have been desperate. _

_The vixen only nodded crouching down under the only window, which was there just to let any smoke out while cooking. "I've only been here for two days, figures when I would try to leave, every exit was blocked off. It's like a prison has taken over Mystic Falls." She informed him as she waved her hand towards the outside. "Likely I would get stuck here, like karma decided to come back and bite me in the ass."_

"_Why did you come back Katherine?" Stefan questioned her vigorously, "What made you think it would be a good idea to return?"_

_The vampire pouted, puckering her lip, but her dark eyes seemed to light up in desire._

"_I missed you of course." She lied._

_Stefan smiled back factiously as he studied her carefully. She was lying, she had other plans._

_ They stared at each other, battling with their eyes, seeing who would fall first when suddenly a loud bang erupted through the Grill as someone knocked the door off it's hinges._

"_Come on out!" A man yelled, a gunshot banging against the wall. "You're surrounded!"_

_ Katherine grabbed his hand instinctually, and for a second Stefan jumped at the warmness of her touch. It was unlike her, but before he could react, the kitchen door swung open and she pulled him to his feet. Katherine Pierce was one to run for her life, but if cornered and unable to make a deal she would fight like hell before falling. He knew that much. Before them stood three witches, the two women-twins- aiming crossbows and an older man stood in front, chanting._

"_Get out of here Stefan." Katherine ordered, pushing him towards the window, but she was too late. The arrows flew at them, one catching Stefan in the shoulder but the brunette was fast enough to catch the next two before running to the Salvatore._

_The man-warlock- began to use his magic to hold them down. Weakened by the vervain tipped arrow, Stefan struggled as the man approached Katherine, who's nose began to bleed from the force of his magic and soon from her ears as well as he hit her –hard- across the face._

"_Katherine Pierce…" he growled, "Or should I say Katerina Petrova, how nice to finally meet you."_

_Katherine hissed, licking the blood away as it dripped to her mouth and parted her lips to speak, but she didn't have the chance as the female witch pressed a stake against her chest._

"_No!" cried Stefan, reaching for the witch's arm. He was quick enough to snap the woman's wrist, halting her as she went to apply the pressure, but without prevail when her twin plunged a second stake into Katherine's heart._

"_Katherine!" Stefan called, trying to grab her as she shrieked in agony._

Stefan killed those three witches that night the second he watched her die. It could have been because watching Katherine die before him was like watching Elena pass, the pain being too great, or because he knew that throughout Katherine's six hundred years of survival, she had always fought for herself, but she had died saving his life. Regardless of the cause, Stefan's despair and desperation took over, giving him the strength to take them down, and the ability to ignore the vervain in their blood that one time as he fed on all three of them.

Anger took over his soul that day, Katherine's death leaving him unexplainably broken. The woman that he thought destroyed him the most during his life; it was her death that had truly ruined him.

Maybe he deserved what was happening to him now, locked in the cell. Allowing her to die as he did, put a cold spot on his heart. It led him to follow Damon once he began drinking human blood. Which had ended up with him in this predicament.

Maybe this was supposed to happen.

The hospital lights flickered as Caroline and Elena went towards the exit, carrying enough blood to last their group a couple of weeks, causing the blonde to halt her soft hum.

"This doesn't look promising 'Lena." She whimpered, turning to look behind her.

Elena knew this could happen. Each second that a vampire was out of the confines of their safe house, their life was at risk. It was the way their livelihood went since the war had started. "Let's go." She instructed and picked up speed with Caroline close behind. They needed to get out as quickly as possible, even though as they made it to the door they stopped dead in their tracks at the sight of a young girl with ebony skin, her dark eyes piercing theirs in front of the exit. Everything about the girl reeked of contempt and power, and instantly Caroline pulled the crossbow from her back, and aimed it at the witch's head.

"Who are you?"

Elena knew what she was- a witch- she could sense the power pouring through her skin, and even weakened of her magic from the spell that started this war, the witch was strong.

"Caroline Forbes." The girl laughed. She looked like she was only fifteen of sixteen years old, a child fighting a war among the supernatural. "And Elena Gilbert. It is so nice to finally meet you both." Her voice strung with confidence, and both vampires wondered just how long the witches had been training her for.

"You didn't answer the question." Elena's voice boomed, echoing in the hallway as she rushed her, rubbing her blade against her throat.

The witch's eyes burned in fury as she pushed the brunette vampire back, catching her off guard, and used her powers to hold Elena down, doing the same to Caroline as well.

"My name is Amelia." Her voice sang as she continued on with pride. "Amelia Bennett." Both vampires eyes shot up – fear striking their hearts. "You two are the reason my grandmother is dead."

Fire began to emerge from the witch's hands, giving the vampires the ability to move again, but Elena's arm was caught in the crossfire. "You will burn!" The witch bellowed, her voice carrying all of those in the Bennett line.

Caroline cried out to her friend, who screamed in agony from the burn, watching as she fell to the ground in an attempt to put the fire out. She would heal, but the pain wasn't enjoyable. Caroline had experienced it a couple of years ago herself.

Even in her pain, however, Elena realized who it was they were dealing with, a Bennett witch, and this one was the last of their line, able to call upon the powers of her ancestors. It would make her weak in the long run however, using up all of her magic.

Meeting her friend's ancestor in the eyes, she stood again, Caroline helping her up by her good arm, even though the damaged one was slowly beginning to heal.

"I will not harm a child."

The witch lashed out with her magic, tossing the brunette to the wall, leaving Caroline free to push the girl away. "This is your fault!" The Bennett cried, "You were the doppelganger, you were the one who turned this town to hell!"

"Elena!" the blonde called out as she heard her friend groan. She went to run to her, as Amelia's anger seemed to be focused on the former doppelganger.

"I'm fine Care! You need to get out of here!"

Caroline shook her head as she shot her crossbow directly to the witch barely grazing her ear. The blonde had learned the hard way in the beginning of the war to avoid getting close to any witch at all costs, unless absolutely necessary. They made sure that the scar, worn proudly on her chest, would remind her every day.

It was just another battle wound.

"I'm not leaving you!"

The witch turned her attention to the blonde, attacking her and leaving Elena free from her power. She was beginning to get weaker and clearly the young child had over extended her abilities and thought this would be over much faster than it was. Amelia Bennett was not as strong as they originally thought.

Moving in at lightning speed, the vampire grabbed the witch by the throat, as her arm was already fully healed.

"Leave, Amelia. I do not want to harm you!" She steadied herself, lifting the witch off of the ground. Witches, even though supernatural, were still human and needed to breathe. They would use that comeback always, after all…witches were more human than vampires ever could be. After all even she- holding this young girl by the neck- wanted to tear her apart, reminded her just how demonic she really was. Elena Gilbert, was one of the only vampires left fighting for the humans of her town, but she had no other choice.

She couldn't kill her, this was Bonnie's granddaughter.

Putting her down to her feet, a solemn look in her eyes, she begged the young girl. "Please Amelia, leave us. We will cause you no harm."

The witch straightened, herself, fixing her coat and glared her down, unafraid of Elena's vampire prowess, ignoring Caroline who was dangerously close as well.

"Fool." She taunted, and before the brunette could react, a stake was driven through her chest, causing her to fall back to the ground.

"Elena!" Caroline ran to her friend, who was choking in pain. It was a common feeling however, both girls have nearly died in fights between the witches many times.

The blonde- filled with power as anger overcame her, gave a look to the witch that could kill. She was never a fighter, but things could easily change.

She growled as she turned to face the witch, yanking the stake from Elena's chest, it had barely missed her heart. The witch was weakened, now drained of her power but clearly still a threat, which made it easy for Caroline to move in rapidly and without forethought, snapping the gir'ls neck, her eyes blackened in ferocity.

It has been one hundred years since Elena has been a vampire, and this was the first time she had witnessed her friend kill someone as she just did.

She had never seen it, and now the truth of the war they were fighting, truly-twenty years later- had finally come to light.

Yet somehow, she found herself unaffected.

For a brief moment, her friend looked back, seemingly lost to her surroundings as Elena stood carefully, looking around the hospital hallway as she waited for the wound to close.

"Let's go." The blonde's normally bubbly voice began to quiver as her eyes turned back to normal. Her eyes flickered in regret when she looked down to the ground, acknowledging what she had done.

Nodding slowly, Elena opened the door to exit the hospital.

The vampires made it back to the Mikaelson Manor in record time, despite Elena's injury, but before they entered the large courtyard, once rich with flowers from the garden and luscious green grass that was now ruined from the lack of care and raging battles, the two girls sat on the steps.

Elena and Caroline had realized what they had just done. It was bad enough they were the reason (in theory) that the girl's grandmother died, but then they went and killed her. Even if Caroline was the one who caused her death, it was a joint effort.

"That was Bonnie's granddaughter Elena.." the blonde vampire began to cry, "Bonnie was my best friend, how could I do something so horrible? What have I become?"

The war has been going on for twenty years now, and she wondered if Caroline had ever questioned her actions before. Elena knew better, just like herself, questioning what you were doing would only slow you down, and in the long run, get you killed. Unlike their early years of being vampires, both of the girls have learned to cover up their emotions unlike before when they wore their love, hatred and despair on their sleeves. This girl though, they had been there when she was born, and even though Bonnie's daughter Dalia had whisked her away from Mystic Falls at her first chance (a way to keep her daughter away from vampires) she knew Bonnie tried to keep close.

Yet they had to force themselves not to care, the memory of the girl's lifeless body-killed by their hands- lying on the ground. They had to put on that façade they had learned to hold on to before moving forward.

It reminded Elena of Elijah, always so collected, relaxed and never betraying his emotions, but he had to hide them, because Elena knew from her own experiences just how dangerous Elijah Mikaelson could be when he showed how he felt. Yet still, he was who she strived to be like. He was the image that held her to the ground, slowly but surely tipping to the edge.

Elena held Caroline as she mourned the death of their friend's relative, all while allowing her own mind to shift around, reminding herself of the oldest Original.

She missed his presence, as they had grown…closer over the years before the war, before he had become desiccated. Now he was a rotting corpse, hidden away by the wolves, a common pawn to act as a treaty in war.

A shuffle in the trees surrounding the property broke both her and Caroline's thoughts.

"Care…go inside, alert everyone."

Night had just fallen so any of the vampires who did not have a daylight ring (which had been all of them except Caroline and Elena) were at attention.

Elena stood sharply as the blonde disappeared, aiming her friend's crossbow in the direction of the trees.

"Who's there?" she called out, "Show yourself!"

A short whistle drew her attention to a stout man, who was balding, dressed in all black.

"I'm unarmed vampire!" He held his hands up in surrender, but she wasn't fooled.

"A warlock is never unarmed. What do you want?"

She was soon joined by the other vampires, each with a weapon in hand. They meant business, and the others had no problem killing witches, no matter who they belonged to.

"I am simply here to deliver a message." He held his hands in front of him now, approaching the group of vampires slowly, "In reference to our captive, Stefan Salvatore."

Caroline was before him in a second, holding a dagger to his throat, tears still staining her cheeks, "What about Stefan?" she hissed into his ear and Elena ran to her friend's side, unsure if she should break her emotional friend from the intruder or let it be.

Decisions, decisions, but Caroline Forbes would do as she pleased.

"Well? What about Stefan?" she repeated Caroline's question.

Elena had hoped deep down that the youngest Salvatore brother was dead, believing that, she had mourned him once already and she wasn't sure if she could do so again without breaking.

_I should have searched for him_ she lamented _what has happened to me?_

"Your friend is alive, and we are willing to make a trade. " the warlock gave her a smug grin, as if he could feel her pain, and Elena instantly got the wrong idea.

"I will go with you-for him." She needed to repay him somehow for giving up, but the idea was that much nicer had he been dead. The witches after all, had never taken a hostage before.

"We don't want you girl." The warlock laughed and Elena eyed him dubiously, knowing this was not going to end well, "We want Elijah Mikaelson."

Tyler could feel his "pack" becoming restless. They were beginning to take sides, and where a pack should always be united as one, they were split down the middle. It left the hybrid helpless, torn between the two sides, those who wanted to honor their agreement with the vampires, and those who only wanted to survive-even if it meant siding with the witches.

The inner turmoil, the lack of trust and the stress of knowing that they were surrounded by the magic of the witches, who were willing to burn the place down without any qualms, was only making matters worse.

"Guys, if we are going to fight back, we need to have a united front." Tyler sat by the fire, in a circle with the rest of the pack members, who all looked extremely worn down. They were not out there fighting the war like the others… but they were still affected, separated from their families, caring for children in the wilderness. This war was taking a toll on all of them. "We are wolves and strongest in a pack."

"Correction, kid. We are wolves. You are a hybrid." Taj, one of the older wolves in the pack spoke up. Tyler tried his hardest to respect the man, even though he returned the notion. His mother always taught him to respect his elders, but in all actuality, Tyler was older than him.

"I was a wolf first and I am always a wolf first." Tyler defended himself. "If not, I would have gone with the Salvatores when they offered, I ended up getting separated from the woman I love because of it."

Tyler paused, to make sure he locked eyes with each person in the circle, drawing out the effect. "I don't only want you all to trust me, but I needyou to."

There was a quiet murmur around the circle as the fire popped and cracked, sending little sparks in the air.

"We can do this guys. I know we can."

It couldn't be said enough. Tyler was not a leader, but he knew how to get everyone's attention.

"So we fight, then what?" a young woman asked, she was one of the newest in the pack, running rogue until she got caught in the woods with Tyler and the others. It amazed the hybrid that there were so many wolves. It was as if they flocked to Mystic Falls just before the war started.

Maybe everything happened for a reason.

"We fight by the vampire's side, "he deducted finally, "We will keep our word, and we will survive."

* * *

**So what are everyone's thoughts? I'm curious, who do you think the witch is that weakened the rest? What did Caroline and Elena do to get Bonnie killed?**

**Why were all of the wolves in Mystic Falls? Is Katherine really dead? (is she ever actually dead?)  
**

**Let me know what you guys think in the reviews :)  
**


	4. We Should be Allies, We are Friends

**So finally a scene with Elijah! So thank you guys for the feedback as always, I know I'm a bit slow on the updates because well...I suck. Anyway, please review I love to read everyone's thoughts :)  
**

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**Chapter Three  
We Should be Allies, We are Friends**

"_We don't want __you__ girl. We want Elijah Mikaelson."_

Elena's heart dropped at the thought. It wasn't in her mind set to choose one life over another, and for that, she was torn.

Stefan was a man she loved once, even if afterwards they had a rocky relationship, which became more like harsh turbulence once she began to see his brother. That didn't mean he deserved to die…

Elijah on the other hand, Elijah gave her a chance for survival when she hadn't even asked for it. She didn't realize she wanted-or deserved- anything. He had given her the chance to live her life when Klaus was desiccated. He may have used her, but her promise did not go without reward, he did everything he could to protect her friends for her cooperation, and in the long run she earned his respect and he earned hers. It was a complicated relationship, not nearly as cut and dry as it had been with the Salvatores, but still one she treasured. Elijah was going to run for her, and had everything gone to plan, he would have allowed her to remain human. She couldn't just let him die.

Pushing her personal feelings aside on the matter(which were much stronger than she cared to admit now) she had the other vampires to worry about. At minimum Elijah turned a quarter of them, which would give the witches a powerful advantage.

She was going to have to break Stefan out instead.

"No." Elena decided, stepping closer, making it a point to take in the scent of the warlock's skin.

"Elena!" Caroline began to chide-or maybe she was begging- since her and Stefan had always been close. "You don't mean that! She doesn't mean that!"

"No Caroline." The brunette's voice could not falter now. "We are not giving you Elijah."

Her friend's bright blue eyes widened disbelief, reminding Elena that her past concerns were true.

Elena Gilbert-filled with compassion and morality- had fallen from grace. She felt the pain of this recollection, but her brain was stirring with a plan in the back of her mind. She wasn't going to let Stefan die, but she wasn't about to let her friend see that just yet. As much as it hurt her to say it, she would have to put Elijah first, but she was going to fight like hell to bring Stefan back.

So torn, and in so many pieces, Elena was going to fight.

A crumbling sound in the warlock's pocket brought her attention back and the man smiled deviously as if he had been waiting for it.

"See…you aren't the only one who was given our offer." Swiftly, he unfolded the paper from his pocket and laughed. "Looks like we are done here. The offer has been accepted."

"What are you talking about?" Elena snarled, her plans now tossed out the window.

"Damon Salvatore-his brother." The man smirked again and turned to leave, taunting the girls with the new information.

Without a second thought, the vampire had the warlock's dark green shirt in her hand. She was angry, and she was hungry. They didn't think she was just going to let him leave did they?

"I regret to inform you that the witches have sent you to your death sir." She hissed, pulling him back. "Now we have our own bargaining chip."

With resistance from the vampire's new (and only) captive, the brunette, fueled solely by the feelings of anguish and betrayal, put the warlock into a sleeper hold, knocking him into unconsciousness.

"All right." Motioning for the group of vampires to come down from the porch who were all waiting with their weapons ready until then, Elena tossed the man to the ground. "Bring him inside, Care, I'm going to pay a little visit to Damon. Do you mind keeping an eye on the warlock?"

Caroline nodded nervously, her friend was angrier now than she had ever been-or at least shown- before, but never before has she had to make a life or death decision between two people Elena cared for. She just wasn't ready to admit to any of it yet.

"Are you all right Elena?" inquired the blonde, "I mean…what are you going to do? Good luck trying to stop Damon from getting his brother back."

The other vampire recoiled instantly, remembering she couldn't blame Damon for wanting Stefan back, and turned sharply with her eyes burning. "Care, I want Stefan safe just as much as you or Damon, but I am not killing Elijah and in turn his entire bloodline to do so." She huffed as she moved for the rest of the vampires to take the warlock's lifeless body inside of the manor. "I will however, now that I know he is alive, do everything in my power to bring him back."

"I remember the days when you would put Stefan first Elena…" the blonde warned, "I know you and Elijah have your history but…"

"But nothing Caroline." The brunette snapped, "It's not just our history that comes into play here. Elijah brought everything I needed out when I transitioned. He never gave up on me through everything we had done to each other. Nothing deserves my loyalty to him more than that, and I am not going to let him die."

Of course, it had become much deeper than that, but Elena did not want to open an old wound. She would save the salt for later.

_She remembered it as clear as day, waking up in the hospital, being much fresher than she had hoped, cold and most of all…hungry. Before she could react, or even explore the sensation, a blood bag was shoved in her face, a hand lightly supporting the back of her head._

"_Drink this Elena." Damon's voice soothed as her vision cleared, she was still in the hospital; the __morgue__, as appropriate as it was._

"_What happened?" she choked out, the words like sandpaper against her throat. "Where…where is my mom?"_

_She didn't know why she asked for her mother, the last thing she remembered was being underwater and Stefan's distraught look as she begged him to save Matt. At first, she thought he saved her instead of him, but then she realized that now she was awake, in the morgue with a blood bag in her face._

_She had died, and nobody allowed her to rest in peace._

_Damon crouched before her, and when she turned, each bone weighing a hundred pounds, to see Stefan, still wearing his usual gloomy expression. Her first thought was to smile at him, but as she tried, a piercing feeling, like the needle from when she tried to pierce her own belly button at fourteen (and failed) , going through her gums._

"_Elena you need to feed. You are in transition." The younger Salvatore's voice was weighed with worry as Damon's-while not happy- seemed to hold worry in his lips, but relief in his eyes. These new senses were spectacular; she would never put so much emotion to another's expression. It was no wonder that the vampires could not trust anyone as each curve of their wrinkles or lips could betray a number of unspoken emotions._

_She wanted to shake her head no, but they looked so desperate, and for a moment so human. Her mind went to her brother, as she allowed her eyes to drift around their surroundings, he was still so young. He needed her, but she needed to be able to handle herself first. She wasn't sure if she would be able to do it, but she knew she had to try. She had to do it; she was the only family he had left._

_Everything after the first blood bag seemed to fly by-time was shooting past her as if nothing even mattered._

_ She was in their home when it finally hit her. She died, and now she was a vampire. _

_Elena locked herself in a room, burying her head in her hands as she tried to cry in peace, but now she knew the full feeling of what it was like to be a vampire. She could hear everything from downstairs, so she knew they could hear her tears. She wanted to kill, maim and torment, while a part of her cried to remain human, she could do it. She had to, but fighting those initial urges were proving difficult. Damon told her the feeling would pass but Elena found herself tossing the first thing she saw, an old vase, with a scream, and for a second those urges went away, bringing on her destruction. In a rapid fit of rage, she destroyed anything she could get her hands on, barely caring about the noise she was making or the objects she was ruining._

_Both brothers soon ran up to stop the hysterical girl, pulling her away as she screamed in tears trying to punch and kick them off when her gaze fell into Damon's eyes, finished with it all._

_For a moment, she regretted everything._

_Her first day she cried, staying alone after her bat with anger management, the day after Caroline came with food and alcohol._

"_It will make you feel better, trust me." She told her, but Elena wasn't so sure._

_Not long after, she was around others, Stefan and Damon had taken her outside in their backyard when Jeremy and Bonnie came over._

_Everything should have gone smoothly, she had fed right before she saw them, the night was quiet and she didn't have a daylight ring yet (as per her own request) but of course it doesn't always go as planned._

_When she first saw her friends, her gaze focused on Jeremy and instantly she fell with despair, crying as she ran into his arms, the tears leaving a stain on his shirt._

_Her brother held her tightly, whispering words of comfort, but before she could say a word, she began to hear his heart pounding in her brother's chest. First, the pound was slow but as her nose grazed his jugular she could hear the beat quicken which only enticed her more. There was no chance for her to act however; she was yanked off by Stefan, who was yelling at Damon._

_She wasn't ready._

_Elena cried out an apology, she was wrong, everything was wrong. She should never have turned and in that moment-sheer spontaneous action- Elena fled, her intentions were to finish what Rebekah had started and die…again._

_ Elena didn't stop running until she was out of Mystic Falls, locking herself in a motel room with no direction, mind or reason. Once the sun came up, she was going to burn, maybe to prove a point, maybe to give her time to get her affairs in order. If she was able to, maybe even change her own mind._

_A stake to the chest would have been much more realistic and proficient, but she held back, not sure if she could stab herself. _

_Staying away, she took in the stars from her window, counting each one. The motel was right on the high way-not one of her wisest decisions- when she saw a familiar car, a black Mercedes with dark tinted windows, drive past._

_Ducking away from the window, she listened closely as the car pulled up, driving over the gravel parking lot. He must have seen her. _

_Elijah was going to come for her. She moved over to crouch on the floor next to the door hoping he couldn't see if he peered into the window, and thought that maybe he came to kill her. Maybe he would end her existence of a vampire; after all…he knew this was never what she wanted. She could have welcomed him with open arms as the saying goes, but when a soft knock on the door broke her thoughts, she wanted to wait for the sun. She couldn't face the Original._

"_Elena? Open the door, it's all right."_

_His voice was soft and remorseful as he spoke from the other side. The new vampire, was right next to the door, scared to tears as she hugged her legs to her chest when she heard the doorknob click. She should have known better to think a door would stop him._

"_Elena?" he asked as he entered slowly, looking down to her on the floor and got down to his knees- a surprising position for the Original- and matched his auburn eyes with hers. She shivered at the look, averting his gaze._

"_Why are you here?" she tried to dry her tears._

"_I…I stopped by the Salvatore's to pay my respects and express my deepest apologies for my sister's unforgivable actions. I was under the impression that you had passed. I had no idea of the vampire blood…then they told me that you turned, and then fled." He quickly explained, "I had hoped maybe to find you…but I must say I am surprised that I did."_

_Elena eyed him suspiciously through her strands of hair. He seemed so genuine, yet there was never a time he didn't. Elijah never said anything he didn't have to or meant._

"_What are __you__ doing here Elena?"_

_Closing her eyes, she thought deeply through her emotions. She trusted this Original, even after everything that had happened; their dance of betrayal, and misleading words, he was a friend._

_He was going to run for her entire human life, and had she had children, their lives as well. _

_He deserved a response._

"_I came here to die."_

_She hadn't expected his reaction, the usual cold and aloof Elijah Mikaelson seemed shocked, yet after a second's thought his expression to turned an odd sense of understanding, as if he had been there before._

"_Why do you wish to die Elena?" He didn't yell at her, tell her she was a fool, selfish or become angry, it was a nice change to the swirling emotions she was feeling inside. He calmed her just by being in the same room. It was odd and relaxing._

_She opened her mouth to speak, but stopped, her explanation not entirely making sense anymore._

"_Because I am weak Elijah." A tear ran down her cheek, but before she got the chance to wipe it away, the Original's cool hand brushed against her skin first._

"_Don't say that lovely Elena." He smiled coyly, "You are the strongest woman I know and if anyone can handle the transition, it is you."_

_The brunette was startled by his words- so honest and confident- it gave her the hope she needed to move on, maybe he was meant to find her._

"_Do you really mean that?" she asked, wondering how terrible she looked, tear stricken and miserable. She anticipated him to laugh at her, but when he placed his hand over hers she felt safe, complete._

"_I give you my __word__ Elena Gilbert. You will do amazing things as a vampire. I know it._

That night, as it turned into morning, Elijah stayed with her, fetching her blood when she decided that she believed him. He had helped her. They talked for the entire day, forming a new kind of relationship, a bond that she couldn't understand or explain and when he took her back to the Salvatore's that night, they were upset with her, but they understood as well. She believed Elijah, who had gone in before her to talk to them, had shared his feelings on the matter with them. He knew she was worried about how they would react.

Elena had wished she asked Elijah to stay to help her, but she never did. She didn't want to be a bother.

Now, looking back to that, she was only reminded of just how much she owed the Original.

She owed him everything.

* * *

During the day, most vampires slept, and at the boarding house, they would sleep in the cellar, one of the safest areas for them. Meanwhile, Damon, the only vampire with a daylight ring left (besides Elena, Caroline and Stefan) and the hybrid Jack would stay up during the day. Sometimes they would go out one at a time just to canvass, looking for more survivors if possible. Damon would complain, sometimes hoping that the witches would attack them just so he could get some action.

"Yeah dude, I can't sit here all day." Jack whined, running his fingers through his greasy hair, typing it into a ponytail. "We need to figure out how to get your brother back."

"Yeah, assuming he's alive." Damon shot towards him, even he was beginning to doubt his brother's survival, not after all of the witches that they have killed.

"Still, it's worth a shot. I can't imagine them taking him just to kill him. It doesn't make sense." The hybrid pointed out. Damon knew he was right; it wasn't like him to give up so easily. He should have been protecting his little brother, and while being caught up in the house, he hadn't gone after him, he tried to think of a way to get him back, but he couldn't figure out how.

He had given up on his brother, at least, in a way he did. He never felt so useless-even as the self-proclaimed "leader" of this group- he had since accomplished nothing.

"Well, if you have any ideas, please do feel free to share." The blue eyed vampire groaned placing his hands behind his head as he fell back onto the couch.

"I can help." A voice piped in from the doorway, and Jack was to his feet, rushing to the door where a witch, a young curly strawberry blonde headed girl, stood, her green eyes piercing the hybrid.

"Help us?" Damon laughed. "Your people did this!"

The vampire stood next to the hybrid, his jaw clenched as Jack pulled the girl in.

"Is it common for your kind to risk a young witch by tossing them into the lion's den?" he growled, unafraid to allow his fangs to extend. Feeding on the witches was an empty threat, as they ingested vervain at least daily. One time Damon and Stefan had captured a witch in an attempt to get the vervain out of her system and compel her, but her "sisters" raided the house with full force, nearly tearing it down in the process.

"Well…we have an offer for you." She looked straight to Damon, ignoring the threatening hybrid.

"An offer? What do you want? We aren't backing off."

The witch nodded, a smirk pulling at the corner of her mouth.

"We would never dream of that." She smiled, "No Damon, we are offering a trade, simple as that. We want the Original. Elijah, and in return, we will give your brother to you."

The girl grinned as her eyes scanned the vampire's expression, awaiting an answer.

"I'm sorry, so you want Elijah and we get Stefan?" The Salvatore didn't know what to think about the offer, it seemed too good to be true, and all they needed was to find his body. "Fine. We will bring him to you." He agreed, but Jack gave him a shocked expression.

"Are you sure Damon?"

Damon steered towards the hybrid, a look of discontent, the answer was obvious.

"Jack, it's Stefan. I can't leave him behind."

"Very good, then by the day after tomorrow, deliver him to us."

"Where?" Damon could see Jack didn't trust the witch- not that he had a reason to. The hybrid lost his wife-a werewolf- early in the war. She was killed mercilessly by the witches when she attempted to protect a werewolf pup, who was their child. The witches killed them both without any thought, they were simply proving a point that the vampires weren't the only species they were going against.

"Neutral ground, I think the high school?" the witch only spoke to Damon, completely ignoring the hybrid that was dangerously close.

Damon nodded, agreeing with the terms, and the witch continued. "Now Salvatore, please call your abomination of a mutt back and I will be on my way. If I don't go back, they will come for me and it won't end well."

The vampire nodded to the hybrid, who looked disgusted by the witch, but backed off. He understood that Damon needed his brother; he would have done the same for his own family if circumstances were different.

It had been barely an hour of Damon and Jack making a plan on how to retrieve Elijah's body, who only Tyler knew of his location, but the Lockwood wouldn't give him up so easily; it would take a lot of persuasion. After all, the Original was half of their treaty bargain. It would be foolish of him to just turn their chip over to the witches (by default). The two were hardly done with their planning when the front door swung open, breaking off of it's hinges, bringing the vampire and hybrid to their feet defensively.

"What the hell Elena?!" Damon yelled when he saw the brunette standing before him, looking livid. "I just fixed that door!"

Before he could laugh at his own joke, the younger vampire had him pinned against the wall.

"Damon, how nice to see you." She spat, pushing harder against him once before letting him go. "You and I need to talk."

The Salvatore brushed himself off and moved to the bar to pour himself a drink, he could tell this was going to be a long conversation.

Motioning for her to follow; Damon led Elena to the kitchen so they could talk under the illusion of privacy, he knew what this was about.

"What's your deal Elena?" he scoffed, his expression clouded in contempt. "You should be rejoicing. I found a way to get Stefan back!" Damon bit into his tongue slightly, as if holding back the insult to injury by saying 'Not like you were doing anything to fix it.'

"You are an idiot Damon. Are you aware of this?"

The Salvatore stepped off for a moment, taken aback by the accusation, and leaned against the counter, crossing his arms.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that we can't give them Elijah! Do you have any idea how many vampires that would kill? Because I know that I have no idea for sure!" Elena pointed to the direction of the stairs that led down to the cellar. "It may just be you, Stefan and Jack once you do so!" The younger vampire moved to the liquor cabinet, pushing past Damon and grabbed a bottle of rum.

He could tell she was hungry.

"Elena, have you fed?" he reached out to touch her arm, but she moved to avoid him. The coldness surprised Damon, even through everything that had happened, they still remained close.

"I fed on the way." She grunted taking a sip directly from the bottle. The image of her standing before him, even one hundred years later, in her tight black clothing and a new taste for alcohol, reminded him slightly of Katherine, something that in the past got him into a lot of trouble in their relationship, even though their personalities were quite different.

"Okay, so it's not lack of blood that is making you a fool…"he laughed, approaching her closer, "I am not letting Stefan die Elena."

"And I don't want him to die either Damon, but I'm not about to let you kill Elijah and his bloodline in the process!" The younger vampire grasped his shoulders, determination and a hint of…something else in her eyes, as she pushed him away. "We will have to find another way."

Damon eyed her, feeling jilted. "And what is it you suggest Judas?"

He watched her as she pursed her lips, her eyes digging into his. There was a time his glare would have made her heart race-whether it be in fear or anticipation- but now she didn't care. She would stand up to him rather than bend to his will.

"We bring him back." She fixed her gaze on the bridge of his nose, but Damon's eyes only opened wide.

"You have got to be kidding! You want to bring Elijah back rather than save Stefan?!"

"Can't we do both?" she shrugged, which only made him angrier.

"Elena, don't you feel anything? This is Stefan we are talking about and you want to put his life at risk in order to save Elijah?" Elena's brown eyes narrowed, reminding him that she was no longer the fragile human doppelganger-but the vampire fighter who only wanted her kind to survive. They were two different kinds of people, yet entirely the same. "How will Elijah be able to help us get Stefan back anyway?"

The brunette looked at him directly, already having an answer ready.

"He can help us fight this. With the Originals back, the witches will be frightened, and for the record, I never said I would rather bring him back than save Stefan, I am simply trying to save both."

Damon could tell she was hiding something, in truth, he questioned if Elijah would even help them. After all, he had his own life to worry about, and being an Original, he would have a nice big target on his back. His best action would be to run. She had to be hiding an underlying, deceitful plan, but he let it go. There was nothing he could do about it anyway.

"Well, we don't have a witch to break the spell." He pointed out with his usual all-knowing tone, but Elena only shook her head making him wonder if she had planned something like this all along.

"I've heard rumors of a wolf in Tyler's pack having the power of magic. It is one of the only reasons the witches haven't wiped them out yet, they still believe they can get the wolves to join their side."

Damon found the idea a joke; they killed the werewolves as heartlessly as the vampires, so he assumed there was some other reason.

Elena quickly explained her intentions, if they didn't bring Elijah back, the witches would go hunting for him anyway. They could bring him and possibly use him as bait.

"You are going to use Elijah as bait?" Damon could see her reservation of course, and he knew she was just trying to convince him how her plan would succeed. She was working on something else.

"Something like that." She agreed, taking it as it was while she took another sip from her bottle.

Damon tried to trust Elena's intentions, but found it difficult. Even after all of the things she has seen, she was still driven by her heart and morals, even under the rough exterior. She seemed different, but it was likely her judgment was clouded by her own ideals.

They were friends, so with that, they should have been allies without question.

"So, when do we head out?"

He may have to do what is best for his brother, which meant he was going to have to figure out his own plan.

* * *

**Please review! :)**


	5. When Things Were Simple

**Chapter Four  
When Things Were Simple**

Stefan opened his eyes to the darkness, and even with his perfect sight, he couldn't make out his hand right in front of his face. A smell, however, caught his attention-rust, mold and the metallic scent that he could taste on his tongue-blood. His breath of life, the overpowering fuel he needed to survive.

He was hungry.

At this point in his captivity, Stefan could hardly move, each muscle in his body screaming to be sustained.

"Ah…you have returned to us." It was the same irritating old woman from the night (or day, he had no track of time here,) before. "I must say, you look like hell."

Stefan grunted a response; afraid that if he opened his mouth, cobwebs would sprout out, spiders and all.

"That's all right, you don't need to say anything, and I'm just coming down to tell you that your brother agreed to our terms. Just as we expected he would." She smiled as she watched Stefan's unmoving expression. The vampire was dead to the world, but even he heard what she had said and raised his head to glare in her direction. "The problem is… one of my witches hasn't returned, so we will have to wait and see what happens. If he doesn't return? Well… your brother may end up going down with Elijah."

Stefan let out a low snarl, ignoring the pain of his dry throat, at the threat towards his brother. The witches weren't fools, they had planned this all along knowing whoever turned down the offer would keep a consolation prize. He was surprised, however, that Elena would do something like that. She valued life, so denying the trade made sense, but for her to do something as rash as take a hostage while knowing the consequences was unlike her. Something had to have changed in the past month, changing her to become more aggressive towards the witches.

"What's the matter vampire? Cat got your tongue?" The Salvatore kept his eyes to the ground, struggling not to attempt to tear through the bars, assuming he could move in the first place. "No matter, personally, I hate talking to myself so I'll leave you to your own. Enjoy!"

Lazily, Stefan lifted his eyes to watch the woman leave-her heart pounding in her chest making the vampire even hungrier than before. Even as he sat against the wall unmoving, Stefan could feel his body drying out from the lack of blood. Each movement was becoming excruciatingly painful and he knew he wouldn't last much longer, even a vampire that wouldn't die could still become comatose without blood, human or animal.

He needed to feed or he may just rot away regardless of who traded Elijah.

The vampire could feel himself fading in and out of consciousness, each moment of clarity he had he spent cursing himself for being in the situation he was in. Not only was he cursing himself, but hating his brother as well for agreeing to the trade. They could have killed him by now otherwise, putting him out of his misery.

As Stefan began to drift, his thoughts traveled to what should have been simpler times, when everyone was seemingly happy.

_Damon and Elena had been off spending "quality" time in Las Vegas, leaving Stefan with the house to his own thoughts. It had been almost forty years ago now-when things were easier.- The Mikaelson family had been laying low, the only ones remaining being Klaus and Rebekah. Elijah- the only one Stefan could tolerate- had left the week before, and he doubted the oldest sibling would return. Stefan figured that had been why Damon took Elena out of town, a tactic to keep her mind off of her friend's departure (and they __were__ friends, to everyone else's distaste.). She had taken it much_ _harder than expected and Stefan could see her relationship with Damon suffering because of it, as he hated Elijah, but she never seemed to notice. Kol on the other hand, hadn't returned to Mystic Falls for just over thirty years, in which the town was much better off, so things were finally quiet in their peaceful little town._

_His phone rang reminding the vampire that silence and peace were only temporary._

"_Caroline?"_

"_Hey Stefan, uh…are you busy?" She knew the answer to that question already, but while Caroline Forbes, one of his best friends since Lexi, was usually the more abrupt "you are coming out with me" types, she knew to leave him be when he actually had the house to himself. Whatever the reason she had for calling, it had to have been important._

"_No not really, I was enjoying the silence, but I have an entire week's worth of it so I'm sure I have some time to spare." He joked playfully, expecting his friend to return the laugh, but she fell silent for a moment._

"_I expected you to be brooding." Caroline's tone was flat and while she attempted to be humorous, the words had a sense of finality and death clung to them and there was so much more meaning to it than just about his day. Damon and Elena had been together for quite a few years now (a lot more than he would like to think about, but time meant so little to a vampire, especially one as young as Elena) as they spent most of their time toying back and forth with each other once she made her silent decision. The reality hurt Stefan of course and he ended up distancing himself for a while which inadvertently brought him closer to Caroline._

"_I'm not brooding, but you don't exactly sound so peachy yourself, what's up?" _

_The vampire was much older than his friend could hear her as she bit her lip, and he couldn't help but wonder if it was out of fear or sadness. _

"_It's Bonnie, will you meet me by her place?"_

_Stefan's stomach turned, Bonnie Bennett was getting older, and with her age, much more vial towards vampires. As she aged, she seemed to forget that they were her friends._

"_I guess I can do that." He replied tentatively, wondering if Caroline's voice of regret was due to seeing her old, bitter friend or if there was a deeper issue. Regardless, he agreed to leave right away, hoping it wasn't anything too serious._

_ Bonnie's home had become aged, just as she had. The yard was spattered with brown patches from not being taken care of, the porch was cluttered and the garden was dead._

_This time however was different. When Stefan pulled up to the house, the garden was flourishing with life, flowers blooming bright as if it was spring, even though it was the middle of fall. Even the grass was a wonderful shade of green, covering the entire lawn even where the dead grass once was. It gave the image of the perfect suburban home._

_ Stefan stepped out of his car and saw Caroline pull up as well. It was nearly the year 2044, and everyone still drove cars on the roads of Mystic Falls, their own way of keeping the small town vibe._

_The blonde nodded casually to the Salvatore as they walked up the pathway to knock on the door and while expecting to see the wrinkled dark skinned woman, with greying hair and dismal clothes, both vampires were shocked to see a young woman instead. The girl who stood before them, wearing a bright pink dress and a grin on her face as if she were reunited with her best friends again, she looked so familiar but Stefan couldn't quite put his finger on where from. _

"_Hey guys! Thanks for coming!"_

_Stefan turned to Caroline, who stepped back on her feet awkwardly. _

"_B-Bonnie?" The vampire stammered, stricken with fear._

_Stefan thought the green grass and bright garden was strange, but Bonnie Bennett standing before him, her old fifty year old body replaced with the image of a twenty five year old version of herself was unexpected-shocking even._

"_What? You two look like you've just seen a ghost." The witch winked, motioning for her friends to enter her home._

_The vampires examined her home carefully as for a moment; Stefan wanted to believe he had traveled back in time somehow, but the inside of the house was still the same._

"_Bonnie… what did you do?" Caroline waved her hands around the house accusingly and then towards her friend's appearance. "You should know it's not a good idea to use so much magic!"_

_The very stubborn witch narrowed her eyes disdainfully as her friends betrayed her. "Well that doesn't sound very fair. You vampires can use your abilities whenever you want to, but __witches__ have to abide by nature." She hissed, a common argument between her and her friends, "But that's not what I called you for."_

_Stefan and Caroline both exchanged worried glances, slowly but surely, Bonnie had begun using her magic recklessly until being sanctioned by a group of "elder" witches, punishing her for the abuse of power. She had been doing well, only becoming angrier over time. This overload of magic was not a good sign._

"_So why did you call us here?" Stefan prodded, seeing his friend this way (even if she didn't feel the same of their relationship) was upsetting. The abuse of her power would not end well and to do something so vain as to make herself look younger was so unlike her._

"_I wanted to tell you guys…I did a spell. I needed to continue the Bennett bloodline so…" she began to stumble over her words, already dreading the outcome._

"_Spit it out Bonnie." Caroline folded her arms over her chest as she tapped her foot impatiently. Stefan would have told her to relax, badgering the witch wasn't a good idea but he couldn't help but match his friend's irritation._

"_I'm pregnant." Bonnie murmured, her deep brown eyes that only yesterday were fading with age glistened in excitement._

"_What?" Stefan's voice jumped as Caroline stepped forward, not sure if she could believe it._

"_You used __magic__ to get pregnant?" The blonde began to tug at her own strands of hair in frustration. "Is that even…legal?!"_

_The witch nodded, but shifted uncomfortably, Stefan could see she was convinced that what she did was right. After all, the Bennett line needed to be continued, but her friends saw exactly what was happening._

_Bonnie Bennett was out of control._

* * *

The moon was going to be full that night, so it was Tyler and his pack's best chance at finally beating back against the witches. The weather- as dismal as it was- was not cooperating and the hybrid could sense a powerful storm coming their way.

The wolves had a plan and the witches hadn't given any trouble in the past couple of years so they wouldn't expect that they were going against them. It was also helping their cause that the witches lacked the power they needed to truly annihilate anyone.

It should have been easy, that was what the entire pack had assumed when they agreed to follow Tyler into the fight. They should have had the element of surprise, but they were wrong.

The battle started as suddenly as the storm, and they intended on using the distant thunder to blanket over their movements to cover the sound. The witches, a group of ten, should have equally matched the pack of wolves- even if they had a hybrid.  
It started in a rush, Tyler jumping from the trees while quickly shifting into his wolf form, taking down a witch as the others- powerful from the pending full moon- surrounded the rest, prepared with the few weapons they had.

They were unable to stop the surge of power that emanated from the witches however, as it pushed the pack away and caused them to scatter and in turn separating from each other. Wolves were strongest in a pack so the further they distanced themselves, the weaker they became and the witches knew that.

Tyler, being the only one in his wolf form (a benefit to being a hybrid) was hyper aware of the others separating, each trying to take down a wolf.

The fight was much harder than they expected, and while the witches were weaker than they used to be, they were surprisingly able to overpower them. Tyler had underestimated them, and for that thought, he digressed. He was the strongest, the fastest and in turn, Tyler Lockwood was their leader and led those who trusted him into a battle they couldn't win.

Before everything began, life was simple. There was no 'pack' to worry about; there weren't witches around every corner trying to wipe out all of the supernatural species (in theory).  
He wasn't anybody's leader; it was just him…and Caroline with their friends.

Then as everything went, things had to get complicated.

The hybrid found himself-his wolf- pinned to the ground by magic and his brain began to buzz. He could handle the witches, drive them away from the rest of the wolves.

_Protect the pack._

It would only take a moment, and they could win. They could survive and that was what mattered.

Fighting the magic, Tyler, in his grey wolf form, pushed himself off of the ground fighting back the power that held him and lunged, latching himself onto one warlock's throat tearing it out. The other wolves, not being able to shift at will, quickly regained their positions as the other forces of nature focused their powers on Tyler.

The momentary lapse of focus from the magic however, drove Tyler against a tree, forcing him to change back into his human form. With his back broken, but still healing, Tyler struggled to his feet as the group of five witches (those that were left) pounded him down with more magic, giving the other wolves a chance to take them out one by one. The only problem was while the wolves were physically stronger and much more volatile by nature, the witches were cunning.

A blinding light flashed around them and the wolves human screams erupted through the outskirts of the forest. Blinking his eyes to regain focus, Tyler rolled onto his back, now fully healed and took a sniff into the air. The wretched stench of witch magic filled his nostrils, there were more.

With a groan, the hybrid , still disoriented from the light, tried to stand when a figure with long flowing black hair stood above him, placing her heel against his chest pushing him down to the ground.

"You should have stayed hidden mutt" the woman's voice boomed, "Do you really want to fight us?"

Tyler let out a cough while attempted to push her off of him, but the woman's magic was too strong. He moved to fight her again when a blur rushed over him, pushing the witch and dragging her to the ground where the figure, which Tyler had trouble making out, snapped the woman's neck.

* * *

The sun was still up, but covered by the clouded blanket as a storm moved in. Night would be coming soon, and the full moon would force Tyler's pack to shift. Elena knew the risk, a werewolf bite was lethal to vampires, but she needed to find Elijah and if dealing with the wolves was what it took, then so be it.

Both Elijah and Stefan were her friends, she couldn't let them die and if they didn't grab Elijah and bring him somewhere safe, the witches would seek him out and kill Stefan regardless. The only reason they had left the Original alone for all of this time was because of how well he was hidden, and he was heavily protected.

"I can't believe this." Damon grumbled under his breath. The vampire made his issue with their first "recue" mission well known before they left, but Elena ignored him. She had her mind on the task at hand.

"Are you going to chicken out on me?" she catechized, pulling her hair into a ponytail. Elena wasn't sure if she could trust her friend's intentions, his concerns were (rightfully so) with Stefan and he would stop at nothing to stop him, even if it meant killing off the vampire population.

"No Elena." He huffed, grabbing his duffel bag as the brunette armed herself as well, "That doesn't mean I am going to be happy go lucky about it. Do we even have a plan?"

Truth be told, Elena didn't have a plan, she was going to go where ever her heart directed her and that meant she was going to need to keep a hawk eye on Damon, and find the wolf with witch power so she could save Elijah and Stefan.

_No. Stefan and Elijah._

Her heart was putting the Original first, but her brain knew she still had to save Stefan.

"I am going with the flow Damon." She snapped as she strapped her dagger- a custom made weapon given to her, with a silver braided hilt and amethyst stones molded into it's base. On the blade was an inscription Elena couldn't understand, and never got the chance to ask the original owner what it meant. She had held onto it all of these years as a personal item, and a useful weapon. It was one of the few objects left that she treasured.

Damon rolled his eyes waving her on and giving a few parting words to Jack before opening the front door. Elena pat the hybrid on the shoulder, and hoped Caroline was enjoying their warlock captive. The vampire shook the thought off however, trying to remember back to when things were simple and wouldn't end up with the world of death and destruction she lived in now.

She followed Damon out the door, and took in the scent of pending rain and she could hear the thunder coming from the east. They needed to hurry.

The vampires soon picked up their speed, not wanting to waste any more time and soon arrived on the south end of Stephen's Woods.

"Sounds quiet to me…" Damon arched a brow without taking a step into the woods, "We don't have time to do a search and rescue Elena."

The brunette rolled her eyes, approaching the trees when she heard a loud bang from the opposite side of the forest.

The sound brought both vampire's attention to the air, thick with the power of magic.

"Looks like we won't have to search for long." She pointed through the forest, "Sounds like they are on the other side." Elena tried not to worry about the witches nearby.

Damon nodded in agreement but rolled his eyes unreasonably. They needed Tyler to find Elijah, and regardless of the Salvatore's hidden intentions, they each had a common destination.

Quickly, the vampires cut through the forest to find themselves in the middle of a warzone. The wolves (thankfully in their human forms) were fighting off the large group of witches who were over-powering the vampires' allies.

Without hesitation, the two partners parted ways, Damon, rushing to help Elena's high school friend, while the younger placed herself in between the others, both quickly taking out their opponents.

Once their surroundings settled down, Tyler pulled both vampires aside sharing his gratitude. Elena hadn't seen the hybrid since they made the deal to help each other, but even she could see the difference in his demeanor.

"You know I appreciate the help, and not to sound ungrateful or anything, but uhm…what are you doing here? You have perfect timing." Tyler crossed his arms over his chest as if protecting himself from the vampires that had saved him.

_"Tyler, we need your help." Stefan, Damon and Caroline stood before the hybrid, all three of them looking ragged._

_The hybrid raised an eyebrow as he stood in the Gilbert living room, Elena was nowhere to be found._

"_I'm assuming this has to do with the hybrid's fleeing with their tails between their legs and Klaus apparently being desiccated?"_

_Stefan nodded gravely as Damon peered out the curtains nervously. _

"_Klaus and Elijah have both been desiccated, Kol and Rebekah are dead." Caroline approached the hybrid and took his hand. "The witches are attacking the vampires, soon the wolves."_

_Tyler loosened his hand for a moment of shock. Klaus' desiccation should have been means for celebration, but by the look on Caroline's face, they were still in danger._

"_What could I possibly do?" he questioned, confused. These vampires were his friends, or sometime like it, and Caroline was the girl he loved, but still, he had to be wary. From the grave expressions on their faces, it looked as if a war was beginning between the vampires and witches. The thought of this was foreign to him. Together both species would destroy the balance and in turn, the wolves as well. He had found a pack of wolves, who decided to stick close to him after news of Klaus, but by the way everything was coming out, it would be difficult for them to get to safety. _

"_We need you to find the Originals. " Stefan told him, his voice solemn as he looked to the floor, "And we will need your help…fighting against the witches."_

"I'm sorry…you want my what?" Tyler was angry already, the vampires, though his friends and allies, never came around unless they needed something. Even after the time he had shared the woods with Damon, he wouldn't put it past him to have some sort of underlying goal.

"We know there is a wolf with witch blood in your pack. We need her help." Elena repeated, her voice calm as she tried not to sound annoyed. They needed to hurry and while she appreciated his need to defend his pack, they were on a time limit before the full moon. Quickly, she explained the situation to her friend, and the need for his help.

Tyler rolled his eyes and waved to a young woman with long curly red hair, dressed in a dirty white t shirt and grass stained jeans.

"Olivia, these are my friends Elena and Damon." He quickly introduced.

"Vampires." Olivia's bright green eyes narrowed as she gave them both a stout nod.

"Yes, but they are all right, trust me." He reassured the girl, giving Damon a glare as if to say "don't let me down". "They need your help."

Elena always found the pack dynamic interesting, they seemed to always trust each other as if it came naturally to them, a completely different system from the vampires.

"We need you to get rid of the desiccation spell on the Originals, or just Elijah." Elena blew through the explanation before Tyler could flip out. Generally speaking, the vampire race was much safer as long as the Originals remained where they were, but after yet a third explanation of their "half done" plan, they knew what needed to be done. With a dagger in each Mikaelson brother's chest, just in case, they would need to pull it out before reviving them. A promise was given to Tyler, only Elijah was going to be recovered, Klaus could stay where ever the hybrid put him (which wasn't revealed).

"There's one problem guys. I don't have that kind of power…" the red-headed wolf's eyes dropped to her feet, "I would need to draw from another source, another witch but no live witch is strong enough."

Damon's eyes gleamed in attention, a look Elena had grown familiar with over time. He had an idea.

"No live witch?" he reiterated, "What about Bonnie?"

In theory, this witch could draw from their friend's grave, as it has been done before, but it would be risky, and by the look of Olivia's expression, she knew that.

"It could be worth a shot." She shrugged, looking to Tyler for guidance, but he looked to the vampires for input, or reassurance.

"Is it that important?"

Elena nodded as she brushed dirt off of her jeans thoughtlessly. "We wouldn't be doing this if not. Trust me, we are saving lives."

Tyler nodded to Olivia, to Damon and Elena's relief. He trusted them, so they had to keep their word.

"The thing is, we have to leave…now, before she wolfs out on us." Damon moved to her side, and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, which she was clearly not comfortable with. The reaction wasn't a surprise, it was in a werewolf's blood to avoid vampires at all costs.

Olivia nodded weakly and prepared to leave while Tyler told them where Elijah was located which thankfully wasn't far, and he was safe.

They only had a few hours before sundown, and Elena could tell the wolf girl was not confident that she would even be able to perform the ritual.

As Elena and Damon turned to leave, with Olivia close by, she could feel Tyler grab her arm, turning her back to him.

"Elena…" the hybrid seemed distracted, "How's Caroline?"

Elena paused, feeling guilty, she hadn't even thought about Caroline since they arrived, yet after all their years apart, the first thing Tyler did when he had the chance was ask how she was doing. Her friend didn't even know she was going to find Tyler.

"She's all right." She responded with a partial smile. "She is doing as well as expected, but she thinks about you from time to time." She winked joking, Elena knew very well how often Caroline thought about him, which was every night. "You should take your pack back to the Salvatore Manor, there are other vampires and a hybrid, but I doubt they will give you any problems."

Tyler smiled as he patted her arm reassuringly.

"Just don't get Olivia killed all right?"

Elena smiled and waved off her friend, running after the wolf and Damon.

* * *

**To those of you who are reviewing/following etc, you are all incredibly awesome! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, personally I hated it, Stefan is a hard character for me to write (and even harder when he is by himself lol) but this was an important tie in chapter I think. The next chapter will be another EE scene and then before you know it, Elijah will be back into play :)**

**Please please review :) Everyone who does get's a gold star (or something else really awesome, I just happen to like gold stars lol)**


	6. Something Wicked

**I've gotten really bad with updates lately, and to be honest there is no excuse for it /sigh.(I wish there was)  
**

**I hope everyone enjoys this chapter, it is not as long as my past chapters here, as it is mostly EE flashback, but I hope you enjoy regardless!  
**

**Chapter Five  
Something Wicked…**

_Pennsylvania was such a beautifully relaxing state, or so Elena had been told. _

_The vampire had made it a point to travel around the country since leaving Damon a year ago. Over time, she had become a nomad, searching for a new place to call home but nothing seemed to suit her needs- it was either that, or she wasn't ready. Each place had become such a blur and she forced herself to move on, move on from Damon, and as far away from Katherine Pierce's shadow as humanly possible. She was done with it all, and desperately needed a breath away from Mystic Falls, peace from the unspoken chaos, from the aftermath of breaking Damon's heart._

_ She arrived at the Keystone state late at night and in desperate need of a drink after the long drive in the rain. Fall seemed to arrive earlier in the northern states, which was wonderful as it was still hitting the eighties in Virginia. The vampire pulled up to the first bar off of the interstate, making sure to lock and alarm her audi. Appraising the building, Elena already prepared herself to turn around. The pub looked like a dive with all of the wrong kinds of people hanging around the outside. As she approached, ignoring her instincts to turn away, she realized what they were warning her against in the first place. Shrouded by the smell of booze, cigarettes and marijuana was a very distinct stench. _

_Werewolf._

"_Wonderful," she murmured as she sauntered past a group of them._

_By nature, vampires hated the werewolves and the same applied vice versa, so by walking into this bar, it was safe to say she was asking for trouble, yet she didn't care tonight. She just wanted a drink…or maybe five._

_ The inside of the establishment was as sleazy as the outside. Pictures and sports memorabilia hung in disarray on the walls but it didn't matter as the combination of dust and bad lighting made them all hardly visible. It was as if the bar was __meant__ to drive it's patrons away, or it's human ones at least.  
Shaking off the eerie chill of the atmosphere, Elena paced straight to the bar, allowing her hair to hang in front of her face to avoid the chance of recognition. She's known some werewolves over the past eighty years or so, and rarely were they ever friendly.  
Sitting at the furthest seat from the crowd, she removed her black overcoat and ran her nails over her exposed skin as she surveyed her surroundings. An older man in his late fifties-another wolf- was on his phone, speaking in a hushed tone, not taking his eyes off of her. She had drawn attention._

_Apparently a vampire was not a welcomed sight in this bar, not that Elena was surprised._

"_Sorry vamp, but we don't serve blood here." A female wolf, with pin straight blonde hair and too much makeup with not enough clothes informed her from behind the bar. She was staring Elena down and by the way she stood, the wolf was trying to make herself seem taller and more threatening._

"_That's all right __wolf__" Elena taunted, her eyes darkening. They were no threat to her and while she wasn't looking for trouble, she also wasn't in the mood to be tested. "All I want is a Jack and Coke then I will gladly be on my way."_

_The bartender smirked, not taking her eyes away from her patron as she reached under the bar to grab the bottle and made the drink quickly, knowing the sooner she made the beverage, the sooner the vampire would be out of her presence. _

"_Sorry, I made sure this one was vervain free. " the wolf-girl sneered, her lip curling into a proud smile.  
Over the years, one thing she had grown to hate about wolves was their pride, they could just never be modest, and while Elena never would think to say one species was better than the other, she was growing tired of the slashing words._

"_Again, that is quite all right. Personally, I prefer wolfsbane." The vampire lifted the glass as if to toast, but was actually checking for the flower that could make her throat burn. _

_The werewolf rolled her eyes and moved to the next guest when Elena felt a group presence behind her, and the voice at her back brought her to turn around._

"_We don't need your kind here stirring up trouble."_

_The vampire found herself face to face with an older woman, flanked by a younger couple with their arms folded over their chests. She hadn't realized that the entire bar was staring at her, half as if she had the plague, the other like she was a piece of bleeding meat just waiting to be torn apart (which very well could have been a feeling she was used to as her life was spent being torn in two.)_

"_Good thing I'm not here to stir up trouble then." She hissed through her teeth, and the two younger wolves stepped closer, surrounded Elena._

"_Any vampire that enters this bar is stirring up trouble, or did the pack of wolves outside not give you the hint?" the younger male wolf, with fire red hair, stepped even closer, his breath hot against the vampire's cool skin._

"_Please step away from me…" Elena moved her hand to push the wolf back, when a low snarl erupted from the other's throat as they closed in, locking her arms against the bar counter before she could react._

"_You dare raise your hand to a wolf in our __own__ bar?" The elder grinned. They had intentionally baited her to make a move, any reason to start a fight. "You __insufferable__ girl!"_

_Elena didn't want to fight them, she truly meant it when she said she hadn't wanted any trouble. She just wanted to have one drink, and go on her way without any damage done, but this was borderline pathetic._

"_Girl?" It didn't take much strength to push both wolves off, "I am nearly one hundred years old and the full moon is a far cry away, yet you insult me __and__ attack me?"_

_The vampire huffed in an attempt to push past the three only to be met by a wall of bodies. A middle aged wolf stood between the vampire and the exit, his arms crossed over his puffed out chest._

"_Please move." Elena pulled her hair back with the tie on her wrist as she tried to move him, but he wouldn't budge. The vampire, still young compared to most of her kind, may have had the strength, but lacked the disarmament training to get him away from her. _

_She was outnumbered, that much was clear, and the werewolves in a pack could easily take her down. _

"_No way darlin' " the man grunted , pushing her back closer to the middle where the first werewolf woman was waiting to give her a hard punch to the jaw, breaking it._

"_The thing with you vampires is…you always get turned too young, it tends to cause problems." The entire bar broke into laughter as they pushed in nearer, forming a circle around the two women._

_Elena began to see why vampires and werewolves could never get along. There was something barbaric about the other species, but then again vampires were dead and needed blood to survive. It didn't get much more animalistic than that, and to think, all she wanted was a drink and now she was stuck in a terrible reenactment of fight club with a woman whom she should have easily been able to overpower, yet she was outmaneuvered. Each lunge as she tried to fight back was parried perfectly. This woman was well trained, while Elena had never been formally taught. She only relied on her strength, speed and endurance which was apparently her greatest weakness. _

_In all of her eighty years of vampirism, she always depended on what she already had, not what she could learn. Even though the full moon was a time away, older wolves still had a strong bite to their bark , so she wasn't entirely surprised when the woman had her on her back in one sweep of her leg. A crack rang through the vampire's ears and a chair leg, splintered to a point as it was aimed at her chest.  
She hadn't gone to the bar for a fight. Elena only wanted to be left alone, and now a __wolf__ was about to end her life, a wolf she should be able to outsmart, overpower and tear limb from limb, but she didn't want to hurt anyone._

"_Here is to your second death." The woman smiled, but a series of gasps came from behind the group towards the large wolf behind the door as he toppled to the ground. The female wolf turned sharply on her feet, giving Elena the chance she needed to stand, tossing the two nearest wolves away, knocking the memorabilia off of the walls. Expecting backlash, the brunette instantly prepared for another attack, but she too gasped, taking a step back at the figure standing before her. _

"_Elijah…"_

_The Original stood before her, in his usual overbearing presence with a curious and proud grin on his face._

"_Elena.." he nodded to her, then grazed the crowd, "would you care to join me?"_

_The younger vampire quivered under his gaze, which was now focused solely on her. He showed no consideration for the pack of wolves who were gawking at him in fear. She nodded sheepishly while gulping, embarrassed for her actions and the man offered his hand, leading her out of the bar while the rest of the wolves parted like the Red Sea. They cleared a path for the Original and his newest vampire companion as they walked out the door._

_ "I guess I should thank you." Elena looked to the ground in shame, "I didn't go there looking for a fight, I have no idea how things escalated." _

_Elijah chuckled to himself, which brought the woman's attention to his features which were not stiff with seriousness but rather softened in relief. _

"_Wolves have a habit of growing much more aggressive in packs and while walking into a bar full of them was one of your more reckless decisions-which speaks volumes mind you- I would not say this is your fault."_

_They had crossed the dirt parking lot, and reached Elena's car, both simultaneously turning back to the building, surrounded by the now empty lot. _

"_How did you find me?" she put her hand on the door handle, but looked to face him. Elijah stood before her, close to her car yet not touching the exterior, in his usual confident demeanor and ensemble. His suit, even after the short scuffle in the wolf bar, was perfectly pressed, his dark red dress shirt without a wrinkle. It was a relief to see such a familiar face, and it being Elijah, someone she genuinely missed, made the encounter that much more inviting even in such awkward circumstances. _

"_The bar owner is a close friend, he called me the instant you walked in." Elena nodded, recalling the bearded man who was on the phone when she approached the bar. "He told me Katerina was here to stir up trouble, imagine the pleasant and welcome surprise to see you instead. I had heard that you left Mystic Falls a year ago, but I must say this is unexpected."  
The Original smiled warmly at her, and Elena returned the gleam. Her largest issue with the Salvatores was the constant feeling of walking in Katherine's shadow, but yet standing before her was the man who knew all three Petrova women, yet never made the mistake of thinking she was the other. _

_She knew that when he looked at her, he wasn't seeing her ancestors, but Elena Gilbert.  
It was strange how things worked out that way._

"_I guess I owe you for saving me. I can't believe I nearly got myself killed by a pack of wolves and the full moon is nowhere near." She put her head against the car while placing her hand on her forehead. She felt so foolish for getting herself into that kind of trouble. "And then you have to come and save me? Talk about ridiculous!" _

_She smirked at Elijah, who only nodded, his eyes glowing without saying anything to embarrass her more._

"_It doesn't look as if the Salvatores ever gave you any training, so you did go in a little unprepared." _

_The Original was right about that, although she couldn't entirely blame it on them, Damon and Stefan had both worked their hardest to keep her away from any fighting so she never needed to be __taught__ anything. Everything she knew was what Alaric had taught her._

"_That's an understatement." She joked, but wanted to avoid any conversation about Mystic Falls if at all possible. "Anyway, why are you here? Is this where you moved?"_

_She had so many questions for the Original, and it didn't matter that they were still outside of the werewolf bar. She knew that as long as Elijah was around they wouldn't bother them. _

"_Yes. I moved here after some time, I've always enjoyed autumn north of Virginia, I find it comforting."_

_Her eyes locked into his, followed his gaze up to the stars. Even directly off of the highway, the glowing pinholes in the sky were shining brightly. She smiled, thinking the same thing as he was. _

"_And may I ask how you ended up in Pennsylvania lovely Elena?"_

_The younger vampire smiled and looked back to him, her eyes bright from the moon. "I may have run away from Mystic Falls, as you already know. I needed to breathe."_

"_And Damon?"_

"_Damon and I…" this was the golden question she had really wanted to avoid, "I think he is much better off with Katherine, in my opinion at least." She waved him off, intending to change the subject, "I would rather live in the present than look into the past."_

_Elijah tilted his head and eyed her curiously before nodding. She knew he would understand, as the entire Mikaelson family made the mistake of allowing their past to drive their motivations. Elijah was the only one who managed to break away from that mindset. _

"_I should let you go. It's getting late, do you intend on staying nearby?"_

_Elena shrugged, her intentions were to stay, but the welcome wagon hadn't been too…welcoming.  
Elijah nodded in understanding, and took a business card and pen from his suit jacket and quickly wrote on it. "If you happen to decide to stay, my door is always open." _

_She looked down to read Elijah's card, his name, phone number and address were already on it. _

"_I-" she began, but when she looked up, he was gone._

"Elena…care to help me with this?"

The brunette shook off the fond memory and nodded to Damon who was staring impatiently in front of the stone door placed over Bonnie's tomb.  
Running her hands over the rough texture, Elena dug her fingers into the small space and pulled towards her while Damon pulled away, sliding the block to the side.

"She's really here?" Olivia squeaked causing Elena to turn, nearly forgetting about the werewolf-witch girl (something that she never believed possible, but it made sense as to why some of the witches were willing to accept the wolve's assistance as they were closest to being human.)

"Yes." Damon responded when his vampire friend could not. He knew Elena had shut herself off when it came to Bonnie and the events causing her death, as she hadn't moved on yet. Elena had looked death straight in the eye countless times, sometimes caused by her own hand without flinching but even he knew she wasn't seeing what was happening in front of her.

"Why haven't the witches taken her yet?"

"Because you are the first witch to go anywhere near her." Elena snapped defensively in a low growl. "Now, please get your magic on so we can go on our way."

While on their way to the tomb, as Elena was lost in her thoughts, Olivia had explained the plan for them. Both Originals had been separated, each with a dagger in their chest just in case the spell ended, so once Olivia completed the incantation they would need to find Elijah (the only one they agreed to resurrect, as both spells would be broken) and pull out the dagger.

It wasn't going to be easy, and with the wolf's pending transformation it would be dangerous as well.

Approaching the mahogany casket prudently, the trio quickly cleared the area. There was no telling what they could come across.  
One of Elena's biggest obstacles would be Damon, that was clear. He never trusted the Original, especially before he left Mystic Falls, it was as if he saw Elijah as new competition. She didn't want to believe Damon was so petty, but their couple of coffee "dates" never put a smile on the older Salvatore's face. Maybe he was right to be jealous, maybe she and Elijah had gotten too close, but for him to want the Original dead for it was going too far. She was glad she never mentioned running into him during the year she was away from her home town.

"Bonnie…" she uttered the words while scripting her friend's name in the dust layer that had formed over the years. "Sorry I haven't come by…I had to keep you safe…"

Elena choked, a tear was trying to force it's way out, but she couldn't bring herself to cry.

_Crying over the dead is a disgrace to their honor- to the life they have lived. _She told herself everyday as her own personal mantra, it was the only way she was able to move forward.

"Elena…" Damon approached her with caution and put his hand over hers. He too had been with her when she died.

"No Damon." She pushed his hand away, balling it into a tight fist. "I need to tell her something."  
With a raised eyebrow, the Salvatore put his hands up, stepping away.

"She knows the witch can't hear her right?" the werewolf spoke up, only to receive a look of death from Damon.

Elena needed to face the reality of the horrors of war. It was now or never, she had no idea when she would see her again.

"Your granddaughter…she turned into such a beautiful young woman." The brunette spoke as softly as she could, she wouldn't cry. "I am so sorry Bonnie. I hope you can forgive us. " The words didn't sound as meaningful as she felt, she didn't want the stranger and Damon to see her break. "She nearly killed us, we had no choice…" she began to choke again, and almost collapsed from the emotions when Damon placed a supportive hand on her shoulder. She didn't tell him what had happened, but she knew she didn't have to.

"Bon…" she struggled to regain her composure; she had to let the words flow. "I miss you so much, more than anything in this horribly messed up world that we live in now. I wish I could change it all for you."

Her vampire counterpart's hand moved from her shoulder to her hand, but Elena pulled away, stepping back from the casket.

"We need to get this over with." said the brunette, nodding to the wolf. "Do what you have to do Olivia, please."

* * *

_**As always, please review! You know how much I enjoy them :)  
Next chapter we finally see Elijah return!**_


	7. This Way Comes

**Just a sidenote, this chapter, and the last one were supposed to be one big chapter, but in order to avoid my wrists from falling off (and my fingers from typing it all out) I broke it into two as appropriately as I could :)  
Please review! (Usual disclaimer applies)  
**

**Chapter Six  
…This Way Comes**

Caroline paced back and forth practically digging a hole through the floorboards of the once extravagant Mikaelson home.  
_Klaus' home.  
_She remembered the ball with a strange forlorn feeling. The Original hybrid had made a powerful attempt to court her that night, seemingly taking advantage of Tyler's absence.  
It was wrong, so she denied each advance, yet now…she was in his haven.

Now this home, once filled with beauty, was a desolate waste. Where the townspeople once danced together in unity (in many ways more than one) was now empty, as barren as a desert land.  
Caroline never imagined she would end up here, with a witch tied up in the basement.  
Moving over to the stairs leading down, the blonde sat at the top leaning her head into her hands. She never asked for this, none of her friends did. In fact, it seemed that was what they were fighting for, for the ability to ask once again. Maybe they wanted normalcy, maybe they only wanted to survive, or maybe they believed there was something better on the other side of this…blockade that the witches have formed.  
Maybe.  
Elena had left hours before, leaving Caroline alone, unable to talk about what happened, what they had done. She wouldn't get over it anytime soon, but from the look in her friend's eyes when she knocked the warlock out, she had shut out her emotions just as Elena always done since this started. The thought was disturbing, "Elena Gilbert the compassionate one" had turned to ice, and in line, Caroline couldn't figure out what to think. She was the one who committed the act, she was the one who killed Amelia.  
In a way, the blonde envied her friend for being able to shut everything out, but on the same note, Caroline could only imagine the inner turmoil she was going through-yet deep down she wondered if she was going through it at all, or if it was just her own hopeful thinking.

With her cooler still next to her, the vampire pulled out a blood bag, instantly piercing the plastic to drain it in moments before heading down the stairs.

The basement was dank, and like most, had a musty smell emanating from the walls and cement floor. She wondered what the Mikaelson family had used it for before they took it over. It was unfinished and dirty with a hint of loneliness added to it only making the scenario that much more threatening.

"What do you plan on doing to me?" the bald warlock, Elena's captive, was chained to a chair in the far corner. The vampire approached carefully as she grabbed a cup of water from the small sink to the side.

"Nothing." Caroline replied glumly, as if trying to pretend she would regret the decision not to tear him limb from limb (even though she very much would) "We aren't here to hurt you." She sat down on the chair close by, making sure to look him straight in the eye as she spoke, the catty attitude was beginning to surface in tempo with the niceties she was trying to show.  
The warlock scoffed and turned his head, avoiding the offer of water. "Right, says the girl whose friend knocked me unconscious and tied me to a chair. "

"We are just protecting ourselves," she murmured, mostly to herself as if trying to be reassuring for her own ideals. "Why don't you see that?"

The warlock chuckled and in the darkness, the vampire could see a grin cross his lips, "Protect yourselves? Yeah, I'll believe that in hell. Do you remember that we are in this war because of you vampires?"

The blonde shot to her feet at the words, she refused to believe them. "How can you say that? It's not our fault we got roped into this with no intention on killing anyone!" her eyes moved to the ground to stare at her feet, her pink sneakers contrasting against the dull grey cement, "Not most of us anyway…"

She wasn't lying. Elena, Caroline, even Damon and Stefan, had nothing to do with the full out attack at the death of the two Originals. They were just defending themselves, it had been other vampires (some they may have been protecting even now, as it seemed they were all on the same side).

"Yeah well, most of the witches stopped caring at this point. It is clear the vampires are out of control, and siding with the wolves makes the balance unstable, it's either destroy the bond, or destroy you, and from the looks of it, they have decided to destroy the vampires." He pretended to give an apologetic look, but failed as instead it was clouded in deviousness and adoration for the witches decision. "They have lost too many, and there is no way to fix that."

"Oh really? So you are all innocent, is that why you broke into a house in an attempt to take out vampires and end up kidnapping Stefan?" the blonde snapped, grabbing him by the chin to force him to look at her. "It sure does sound like you are trying to be peaceful." She was becoming increasingly irritated with the warlock, while she was well aware the witches were not entirely at fault, they were just as at fault as the vampires.  
Pulling his head out of her grasp, the man smiled to her sweetly, still attempting to push every button he could before he pushed her over the edge.  
"Besides using the Original to stop this stupid war? I don't think so. Majority of the witches believe this is the only way to end everything. They want to purge the vampires from the world once and for all. Just like Esther tried to just over one hundred years ago."

"But the balance…" Caroline murmured to herself, she knew (as she had learned from Bonnie) how important the balance of nature was to the witches. She had always believed that witches valued all life, but that value did not seem to stretch out to the vampires, as they were not alive.  
"A balance? The vampires are why the witches are unable to withhold the balance in the first place! There will be no need for a balance if we purge you all, so therefore that is what needs to be done. One Original at a time, and your friends are going straight for it."

A moment of clarity hit Caroline like a ton of bricks. It could have only been a passing thought at first, but instead it remained to fester like a disease. They didn't want just the Original of course, they wanted to follow, so they could wipe out the vampire race, in turn Damon and Elena would lead the witches straight to Tyler…which could lead them to Klaus.

_ It was only her, Damon and Tyler left of her friends. Elena left with Stefan and while Caroline wanted to follow, she couldn't leave Tyler. They were hiding out in the old Lockwood mansion, avoiding the terror of what was happening around them. Everyone was getting out of control, from the vampires to the witches setting fires trying to draw the others out, fighting randomly. There was no order.  
They only wanted to survive, her and her friends, at this point but it didn't seem to be allowed. Some of the vampires panicked, stopping the witches that they thought were killing the Original family, in turn their bloodlines . Naturally, the witches began to retaliate, even though their powers were weakened it didn't stop them. Now they were all being caught in the crossfire, each "side" sheltering the straggling humans (the few that were left, as many of them fled due to the "gas leak" that occurred throughout the town).  
It hadn't taken long for them to get pulled even deeper into the middle as well._

_It started when a vampire bolted through the white double doors of the Lockwood home unseen until he crashed into an unsuspecting Damon, who instantly turned him down to the ground. _

"_Run!" The fleeing vampire had attempted to choke, but it was too late.  
The witches were quickly on them, and in the rush of everything neither the vampires nor hybrid noticed the fleer's blood drenched hands.  
Witch's blood.  
There was no turning back now, in guilt by association, they were shoved into the middle of a fight they never intended on jumping into, and before anyone could react, so much as have the time to give a warning, the Lockwood mansion began to burn just had Mystic Fall's past regime had done so when Carol had passed. _

_The fire was spreading quickly, and soon the flames danced a deadly path between Caroline, who was closest to the door, and Tyler, who was trapped by the kitchen with Damon._

"_Tyler!" She cried out, attempting to rush the flames, but her skin singed at the touch. She could hear him on the other side, muffled by the cracking of the sparks, but through the thick smoke, she couldn't see him. Ashes filled her lungs as the flames engulfed the mansion, she could no longer smell the witches, however her senses were skewed. All that the blonde could smell and feel was the fire, and she was sure a scent of burning hair, as the tips were singed to black. Even though both Tyler and Damon were lost among the flames, she knew they were okay. She would __know__ deep down in her un-beating heart that if something happened to Tyler she would feel it.  
Choking his name out again, coughing up smoke rings as the rafters began to crash to the floor, each piece of the roof weakening by the fire, she attempted to force her way through again.  
"No!" Caroline screamed again as she moved to step through, but a hot pair of hands pulled her away, a familiar scent of blood greeting her senses again. The force was powerful enough to yank the hysterical vampire out of the house, still screaming Tyler's name._

_She couldn't leave him. _

"_Stop fighting me!" the smooth voice demanded as the blonde's back hit the grass and she found herself in the front yard, staring at the stars._

"_No!" she cried out once again, the words from constant use, were beginning to feel foreign on her tongue. "I need to get Tyler!" She didn't even think to look at who she was talking to, until she saw the blood on his hands._

"_You need to get out of here before they come after you too." He advised in all seriousness, grabbing her arm, the dried witches blood flaking onto her own skin. "Please! Tyler is safe, trust me!"_

"_This is all your fault!" she shook his arm away while jumping to her feet, "You led them straight to us! We only wanted to be left alone!" her voice felt like gravel moving through her throat._

"_I am __sorry__ about that, really I am. But that doesn't change the fact that you need to run. They will kill you and what good will that do for Tyler?"_

_The vampire stranger lifted the blonde off of her feet, and tossed her away, out of the path of a rush of faulty magic backed by the team of witches that had set fire to the nearby trees and Caroline took one last look to the home as it burned, the smoke rising like it's own personal chimney into the sky._

_Tyler was safe-so the stranger had told her- so she had to run before the witches turned their attention on her._

A bang from the upstairs diverted Caroline from her distant memory and the warlock only laughed.  
"Did you think they wouldn't come for me?"

Elena and Damon were forced to flee the tomb of their friend's body. The full moon had begun approaching much more rapidly than they had anticipated , leaving the two vampires vulnerable to the werewolf's shifting.  
Luckily for them, (as lucky as it would seem) the ritual had been cast, giving the vampires just the time they needed to run as the young girl screamed in agony.

The candles had burned out the moment Olivia's ritual was complete and soon enough the vampires could feel the magic crawling over their skin as it released.  
"Olivia, are you all right?" Elena went to approach the wolf girl who was on her knees, panting heavily. Both her and Damon could hear the witch's heart racing- the unnatural tone rumbling through as Elena's dark haired friend grabbed her tight by the arm, pulling her back protectively .

"We have to get out of here."

Elena turned back to him, ready to argue (in all of her one hundred years, she had never seen a werewolf shift before) until she heard a low snarl erupt from the girl. She was beginning to shift into a wolf, becoming more deadly than ever.

"Get…out! You don't have much time!" Olivia cried as she began to change and Elena watched in horror while in a matter of seconds, the girl's pale skin shifted to rush colored fur.

"Elena! I am not asking you again!" Damon had her out of the tomb just in time to shut the large cement door, the wolf's growls rumbling from the other side as she crashed against it.

"We can't just leave her in there with Bonnie…" The brunette began to panic, looking back longingly as they began to walk away, but Damon shook his head.

"Bonnie is protected by her magic, she cannot do any harm so try not to worry, and we will let wolfie out in the morning." He followed her gaze back to the tomb and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Right now we have an Original to retrieve."

Elena wasn't about to pretend her friend neglected to say "rescue" or "revive" , but she went along with him. She had hoped that Damon wouldn't betray her, she always believed she could trust him, but with Stefan on the line there was no telling what he would do. Damon Salvatore could easily become a loose cannon. Elena needed to come up with a plan and she had to do it fast.  
She nodded in agreement and disappeared down the road, the wolf's howls echoing amongst the property as Damon followed close behind.

According to Tyler, Elijah was hidden near the ashes of the Lockwood property, somewhere among the trees and when Elena heard this, she became concerned then, but more so once they arrived. Both vampires knew the same information, but they both had different intentions, it was only a matter of who would find Elijah first.  
In short order, the vampires separated, Elena, heading closest to the trees partially destroyed by the fire and Damon closer to the house to search the ashes. They both searched relentlessly for the coffin, which Elena hoped had at least been hidden well and she wished that Tyler had given better details as to where he was located, but it didn't matter. She aimlessly walked through the trees, using each sense to find him that she could spread out. While she searched, she came close to giving up, until she felt a brush against her shoulder. At first, she shrugged it off as a branch, until a breeze wisped through her hair, almost as if a ghostly whisper.  
In that moment, everything turned into a dream, a strange eerie dream as if a spirit went through her, leading the vampire to turn her gaze just deep enough into the forest where she saw what she was looking for.  
A rock formation, that looked nearly statuesque, surrounded by the ruins, stood tall before her and when she approached, an opening became visible from the other side just large enough to squeeze a coffin through. _Smart move Tyler,_ the vampire mused with a grin.

In order to get into the cavern, Elena had to squeeze over the coffin, crawling on the top to get inside. Her hands shook as she gripped the lock, she wasn't afraid but she hadn't seen the Original in twenty years and she wasn't sure if she was ready to face him…

_It was one week later, after drifting throughout the state of Pennsylvania, that Elena found the folded up business card on the dashboard with Elijah's address and phone number written neatly on it. She bit her lip, unsure if she should see him, but her indecision turned quickly. Elijah was a friend and there was really no reason __not__ to at least see him. She didn't want to admit it out loud of course, but she had missed his calming presence and dry humor. So without thinking twice (or three times in this case) the vampire turned on her car engine, checked her phone for any missed calls from her friends back home (she hadn't expected any, but she had one text from Caroline, telling her that Damon had gone down to Florida to find her) and began to drive. She considered calling the Original first, but decided against it. She didn't want to give him the chance to say no to her. It was going to be a brief visit anyway.  
Elena's GPS brought her down a long winding road surrounded by trees, there were no lights to guide her way, but she didn't need them. A vampire could see well enough and once she reached the end of the street to see only one house set in the darkness, she recognized the ploy to keep any unsuspecting humans at bay.  
Elijah always did enjoy his privacy, and she felt at times, she was the only one he would open up to._

_After killing the engine, she stepped out of the vehicle to walk up the cobble stone path. He had to have known she arrived, and even though it was late, Elena figured he would be awake. The Original was never one for sleeping, she recalled him spending his nights writing or reading, and every once in a while, he would join her for a light stroll through the town.  
They were friends, regardless of what everyone else considered of their relationship.  
He had saved her life in her worst moment of weakness, she wasn't going to just let him go. And who were they to judge who she had coffee with maybe once a week until he left? Who were they to tell her she couldn't go for walks in search of the common serenity he gave, she never found it anywhere else, so who was she to turn it down?_

_Quietly, the brunette walked up each step with care, she was afraid to make any noise in such a serene setting, as disturbing it seemed like a crime.  
Her knuckles were white from gripping her hand into a fist before knocking once, then twice following, and stepped back to eye each bright star in the sky. Elena's eyes twitched to the distraction of a light flickering on upstairs and she soon heard a rustling in front of the door as the lock clicked open._

_Looking back down as the door opened, Elena found herself locked in a gaze with Elijah, who had clearly just gotten out of bed.  
"Hi…Elijah…" she smiled, staring directly into his eyes, forcing herself to avoid taking in his surprisingly perfect physique. He stood before her in a pair of dark green sweatpants and shirtless as she struggled not to notice each curve of his muscles and the way his veins popped while he gripped the door.  
"Elena…" his tone was questioning, "What a…pleasant surprise. I had assumed you would have gone by now."  
The girl shook her head, and shifted to the side as a breeze passed through the air, rustling the surrounding trees._

"_I am enjoying the fall here, it's relaxing." She smiled to him, "I'm sorry, I know it's late, I just-"  
The Original held up his hand and waved for her to enter.  
"Please come in, and it is no matter, but you knew that already." With a stout nod, she moved past him, not taking her eyes off of his. _

"_To be honest, I am not sure where to go next…" She followed Elijah into the den, which was mostly a large cleared room with only a couch, an old English style coffee table and a bookshelf yet somehow it had a homey feeling to it. _

"_Well, clearly I am not going to rescind my offer." He stated plainly, "Would you like a cup of coffee?"  
Moving her eyes to the ground, Elena nodded, trying not to smirk. Even at two in the morning, the oldest vampire to walk the Earth was a gentleman, forever and always.  
"How long have you owned this house?" she questioned, he had never mentioned it before, although he had brought up a few of his properties around the world in conversation. She was beginning to feel intrusive as she examined the room thoughtlessly. _

"_I have owned this home since the early 1900s," he replied from the kitchen, "with some minor updates this place has become my own personal escape."  
There was a hint of intimacy in his voice which could have made the younger vampire feel uncomfortable, but the warmness of Elijah's smile as he emerged nearly made her forget. _

"_I am sorry it's so late again. I didn't expect you to be sleeping." She quickly apologized with a wistful glaze,  
The Original set his eyes on her as he handed her a mug filled with hot coffee, the smell alone managed to perk Elena up. _

"_It's just a drop of milk, unless you have changed your preference since last we saw one another?" he questioned, avoiding her second apology. Elijah never said anything he didn't have to, and a second time telling her it was all right, was pointless._

_Elena shook her head, allowing the hot liquid to pour down her throat. Her and the Original's coffee get togethers had clearly come in handy (that and him assisting her in her studies was an extra bonus) since he knew exactly what she preferred in her coffee. _

"_So then Elena, what made you change your mind and decide to enjoy Pennsylvania even longer?" _

_The truth was, she would have left the state the very night of the bar incident but subconsciously she knew she stayed with the hopes of seeing him again.  
She had missed him, and probably more than she should._

"_I didn't want to leave without at least saying goodbye." There was no point in lying to the Original, even without being able to hear her heart beating as it used to, the closer they had turned overtime the more obvious her emotions had become to him._

"_Well, I appreciate your thought, even if it did occur at two in the morning." He teased, joining her on the couch. "But tell me, what is the real reason you came?"  
Elena couldn't prevent the dejected look that crossed her face, she didn't want her lost friend to believe that she was using him…even if she did have ulterior motives._

"_I-" she stammered, searching for the words to explain exactly what she came for. Did she come for him? In retrospect she had. Elijah had what she needed, he always did. "I came because I…I want to be myself again. I am tired of feeling so weak, out of control and defenseless. " Elena didn't finish with "how I feel when I am around you", instead she continued, "I don't want to have to be __protected__ anymore." She shook her head sullenly, "I just want to be me again, and I am afraid that I have lost who I am."_

_Elijah chuckled lightly to himself and reached across the couch to place his hand over hers. "The fact that you are worried you are no longer as compassionate as you were when you were human, shows me that you have not changed Elena"  
He even knew what she was saying in her undertone, the concern she lost her compassion, her care for her friends, family and loved ones. She didn't need to say it, he knew how many layers she was speaking in. It was why she opened up to him in the first place. _

_For a moment, she froze under his contact, but there was something in his eyes that comforted her. Elijah always knew her, even before she knew herself. That was why she had come here, she wanted to be herself with a friend who she was comfortable with. _

"_I just hope you are right." She sighed, gripping his palm for comfort, and smiled back to him feeling a strange…power surge through her, something she was not as familiar with as she would prefer.  
They were friends, she told herself and he was there when she needed someone she could trust._

"_Now that we have established that…" Elijah started, standing to his feet and releasing her hand, the power she felt withering away with it, making her want to grab it for more, "Your own self protection is something I can help you with…in the morning, or afternoon at this rate. If you would like to get some rest, I can show you to your room."_

_So expecting, never surprised.  
__Your__ room, he had said._

_She had come to the right place after all._

Elena took a deep breath, still staring at the coffin which like Bonnie's, was covered in a decent layer of dust, which she swirled her finger over lazily before gripping the lock again.

With a quick tug, the lock snapped and she tossed it to the side while examining her surroundings before sliding the cover off, tasting the dust as it blew out. Waving her hand in front of her face to get the dust away, Elena looked down now lost for words.

Elijah-his skin cracked and brittle was taut to the bone. His body was an ashen grey as his suit was covered in dust, his arms folded across his chest. There was something…beautifully morbid about him and until she saw the dagger sticking from his heart, he looked like he was finally at peace.  
Pulling out the dagger (in fear that another seconds wait would make her change her mind) with only a hint of remorse, Elena placed a hand over his, ignoring it's dry texture. She didn't know how long this would take, and a few moments later, when a shuffle came from behind her, she instantly came into defensive mode.

"Elena we have to get out of here." Damon's voice came as he climbed into the small cavern. "The witches followed us, I think they are close." He paused when he saw her distraught expression and dagger in hand. "You removed the dagger!?"

The blue eyed vampire was before her in a second, looking expectantly vivid.

"What did you think I was going to do?" she crossed her arms over her chest and arched her brow, "It wouldn't do us any good carrying him now would it?"

Damon stepped back in his usual stance of defiance and eyed her incredulously.

"You have got to be kidding me Elena." He rolled his eyes, "Well, we don't have the time to be waiting for him to wake so…"  
Before Elena could say anything, or react, the Salvatore grabbed for the dagger, with his only intent to get his way. She held onto it tight and was quick enough to twist his arm around and toss him to the side.

"It's ironic that the one you are trying to re-dagger is the one who taught me to fight you off." She growled before checking back to the Original. Elijah's skin had regained it's color and he was already beginning to look alive again. Once he woke, he would need to feed, but in the rush of leaving, they had forgotten to bring any blood.  
They would, as usual, need to act fast. The young vampire turned back to Damon with the dagger still in their hands and stepped forward just in time for her to be confronted by him again, a more threatening push coming her way when in an instant, a harsh wind blew past her, tossing Damon's body into the rock.

Elijah.

Even after being dead, the Original vampire's eyes, while darkened a shade in anger and shadow, did not shift as a vampire's usually would. That didn't mean, however, that while he stood before her, holding Damon tight by the throat, that he looked any less animalistic. He looked as if, for a moment, his usual grace was broken and he belonged out in the wild. This is what a vampire should look like, but if they did, they would never be able to pull in their prey.

"Elijah." Elena ran to him and placed a hand over his arm and the Original turned to her with a look the devil would shy from, but almost instantly, his features softened. He opened his mouth to speak, but words couldn't form, he was still too weak and it must have been only in pure adrenaline that he was able to push Damon back.  
His chest was heaving as he released the Salvatore, like a bull preparing to charge and confusion clouded his eyes as he stepped back favoring his right leg, and looked to Elena for an answer. Their eyes met for a moment, and the brunette tried to smile but instead gave a soft nod.

Everything was going to work in their favor now. They just needed to get him back first.

"Come on, we don't have a lot of time, the witches are close." Damon reaffirmed, touching Elena's arm, but she didn't pull her gaze from the Original who was using the wall to balance himself.

"You should go ahead. Elijah is too weak and I am not risking it. We will follow a decent way behind." She decided, taking control over the situation and she wondered if Elijah was able to hear what they were saying, or if he thought she was talking to him since her eyes couldn't separate from his. "We will meet back at my-" she paused, realizing one of the true owners of the household stood before her, and turned back to Damon, "At the Mikaelsons. We will make our plan once we get back. Will you be all right?" Elena didn't like the idea of leaving Damon to his own, but someone had t make sure Elijah didn't get killed in the process.

"I'll be fine." The Salvatore grunted, seeming offended, "You just make sure you get him" he pointed to Elijah, who was piercing daggers into his direction, "back in one piece. This was their plan all along it seems."

Rolling her eyes, Elena looked back to the Original and nodded, for once he would need her to protect him…for now.

She watched Damon toss the now empty coffin aside and disappear. They would only have to wait a couple of minutes before heading out themselves, as long as everything went smoothly.  
Leaning against the cool rocks, she peered out the opening to make sure the coast was clear and behind her, she could hear Elijah shift, following her movements just slight enough to remind her that the Original still had no idea what was happening.

"I will explain everything later, I promise." She reassured. She remembered how much he struggled to speak the first time she un-daggered him over one hundred years ago, it would take some time, and he would need to feed.

"How…long?" he choked out, giving a cough between each word. Elena wasn't sure what he was asking, how long until she explained? Or how long has it been? She went with the latter.

"About twenty years," she replied, now avoiding his gaze, "Now don't say anything else. We have blood once we get back to your house."

Elena didn't want to see his expression at this time jump as looking back on it herself, made her stomach turn.

"Let's go. Can you run?" she pulled her own personal dagger out of her boot again, just in case, and saw a spark of remembrance in Elijah's eyes as he nodded.  
Motioning for him to stay close, Elena slid out of the open space into the night, as she led him along by his wrist, avoiding his hand.

They had to hurry.

* * *

**So...I suck at updating this apparently (in reality, I suck at updating all of my fics as of late) BUT I started a new fic (I know. How? Why? What are you thinking?) called Of Monsters and Men, it's an AUAH Elijah/Elena fic soo go check it out...self promotion over now  
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and as a whole...this story. Finally things are beginning to (slowly) fall into place as to how they ended up in that position in the first place (only took six chapters) and now Elijah has officially joined the team, and will he have a few things to say about this! **

**As always, please please review you all know I appreciate nothing more :)  
**


	8. This is Where We Are

**Chapter Seven  
This is Where We Are**

Leading the witches away was not a problem for the oldest Salvatore. After his excursions of taking in humans and the like, the target on his back wasn't getting any smaller. They were following his trail like a pack of bloodhounds, so he ran.  
Damon ran away from them to make them chase him, then…he would fall back to keep their attention on him and only him. It was like playing cat and mouse, but he had to make sure Elena was safe, and regrettably, Elijah as well.  
_This better be worth it_ he thought angrily. He could have had his brother back by now, but instead, as usual, Elena and her morals stood in the way.

As Damon got closer to the Mikaelson Manor, he could sense something was wrong.  
The air was reeking of magic.  
Worried about what he would find on the other side, he burst through the door and surveyed his surroundings. Everything was seemingly untouched but the air was thick and clouded with the elements of power. The balance that needed to be preserved between earth wind fire and water, it was all so powerful, yet too obvious to ignore. Death was in the air and as the vampire moved stealthily through the main room, and his ears twitched to the sound of a soft groan coming from behind the staircase.

"Hey Barbie, what the hell happened here?" He turned frantically to see Caroline gasping for air (even though she didn't need it) with her body slumped heavily against the floor by the stairwell..

"Da-Damon?" she choked, her eyes were blackened in hunger as she attempted to grasp the floorboards, anything to fight back the urges as the dark veins took over her face.

"Where is everyone?" he grabbed her hand, in an effort to comfort her but it failed as she pushed him away.

"Ve-Vervain. I need to..."

"Feed I know, hold on." Without any time to spare, Damon ran into the kitchen for one of the few blood bags they had left (even though he remembered only a day ago they had picked up more ) and ran back to the blonde, who snatched it greedily, tearing into an animal while draining it dry as Damon looked on with his own thirst.  
He needed to feed as well however, he knew those blood bags were for Elena, Caroline and the rest of the house, even though currently the manor seemed empty. "Where is everyone?" he asked again while he pulled her carefully to her feet.

The blonde shook her head, "Not sure…some fled, but there may be a few hiding out around the house." Damon nodded cautiously. He had always preferred living this through without any other vampires, he trusted Caroline, himself, Elena, Stefan and even the revenge driven Jack to only kill as necessary. They were the ones caught in the middle after all and it seemed the rest of the vampires had no problems ripping apart the servants of nature. Overall he found keeping more around to be more of a hassle than anything, but it seemed as if they had no choice but to work together.

Caroline opened the basement door and peered down into the darkness and since the electricity has been out for years now. He could tell she was searching for something, but whatever it was, had been gone.

"What?" The Salvatore prided, sticking his head through the doorway while she sighed in frustration.

"He's gone." The blonde hit the wall, irritated with herself, and worry creasing her brow. "He told me the witches were going to ambush you when you got there with Elijah." She remembered, looking as if she should have said that earlier.  
Damon's lip curled upwards from the reminder of the information he already had planted in the back of his thoughts, he had an idea. They were already ambushed once, why not try again?

"Figured as much, which is the only reason I let Elena follow through with her ridiculous plan." It wasn't easy for Damon to hide his distaste at the idea. It was one thing to prevent the witches from getting Elijah's body, but to bring him back was feeling more risky than beneficial.

"Well, what are you going to do? Sit here while Stefan rots?" she threw her hands up in the air as she turned back to face him, there was no point to arguing with the former Miss Mystic Falls, she wasn't wrong and didn't have to make a point to prove it.

No, Damon didn't have some elaborate plan, foolishly he believed Elena would curve to his will and allow him to take Elijah's body Silently, he cursed at her morals, and wondered if her and the oldest Original had been cut from the same cloth, even if his were falsified with the need to change. Elena never had to change. Of course, however, Elena didn't have a plan when they went to save Elijah either and so far (as he could tell) things worked out all right in the end, hopefully he would be able to do the same.

"Well, for now we wait." He decided. They would wait for Elijah to come back, not that Damon needed him to make a decision, but then at least Elena would be more in a comfort zone so she could think a little bit more clearly…so he hoped. As if on cue, the front door opened, the light scent of blood filling the room. "Sounds like they are right on time."

Caroline and Damon walked into the living room to see Elijah, not looking any better than when he had Damon pinned against the wall, and Elena standing off to the side, with blood covering her bottom lip and on the side of her arm. The Original too, not only had dust in his hair, but spots of blood on his face-spatter from a witch maybe.  
Had he tried to feed on a straggler?

"Elijah…" Caroline gasped as she froze, and Damon couldn't help but ask himself if she hadn't believed his story of Elena bringing him back to life.  
The Original's eyes, though dull, were darting across each corner of the room, taking in his surroundings. This used to be his home, and Elena with her band of blood bag drinkers had taken it over.

"Don't worry, we didn't change too much." Elena piped in, returning from the kitchen (Damon hadn't even noticed she left) with two bags of blood, and from the corner of his eye he could see Caroline's surprise as she handed them both to Elijah. He nodded slowly and turned his head towards the former doppelganger where Damon could see the skin crack where his lips tried to force into a gratuitous smile. He had never seen the man so…helpless. It looked as though he was struggling just to lean against the wall.

"Not much of a talker huh?" Damon couldn't help but sneer as he stepped closer to the Original as he began to drain the blood. "You are welcome by the way." His blue eyes pierced into Elijah's in a challenge, hoping to shed some emotion from the corpse-like frame before him. Anything to prove that bringing him back was the right thing to do.

"Damon, he's been dead for twenty years, do you expect him to start giving a monologue?" The Salvatore shifted uncomfortably on his feet as Elena wedged herself in between the two vampires, both much older than her, but no more fearful than she had been before. She was protecting him, not that it was a surprise.  
Damon looked past her as Elijah finished the second bag, his grey clouded expression brightened into more color as if suddenly he was coming alive again. He couldn't prevent the look of disgust when the Original put a still weak hand over her arm, turned Elena towards him so that her focus was on him and him alone. What made matters worse was how willingly she gave it, and as if in silent conversation (apparently they didn't need words) the brunette nodded and Elijah looked up to step forward towards Damon again, and Elena stepped next to Caroline to engross in conversation with her friend who flailed about her experience.

"Thank you Damon." The Original's voice was still weak, even though his color was beginning to return he was still a shell of what he should be. "I believe…Elena said you cleared a path for us, even though you missed one I am still grateful."

He "missed one", Elijah told him it as if they were in a shooting range and it was no big deal but the blood on his face and Elena's lip and she had cleaned herself up already since it was healed.

"Sorry you had to put in the extra effort." He growled through his teeth, stepping even closer so their shoes were touching, ready to strike.

"Damon…" Elena warned, returning to the conversation, "Let's save the pissing contest for later okay? I'm going to take him upstairs." She touched Elijah lightly on the elbow, holding onto his arm as she led him to the stairs, the Original's gait significantly slower than hers and he wondered if the run here had made him even weaker.

At this rate, Elijah would be no help to them.

From the corner of his gaze he watched as Caroline's eyes trailed her friend and the Original's path up the stairs.

"So…now what?" she questioned, "Looks like we won't be trading him for Stefan so…" even she knew they would probably have to pry Elijah from Elena's cold dead(er) hands in order to complete that transaction and he could see the slight hint of resentment in her eyes, which she did struggle to hide, unlike him. Had she really been surprised by Elena's defense of Elijah? Even he…sometimes clouded by his own personal feelings for her, knew Elena wouldn't want the Original dead.

_She __never__ wanted him dead._

"Well, we are going to have to storm the place. Or…we are going to have to find them first and we have until tomorrow afternoon to figure out how we will get there."

In agreement, Caroline nodded as she walked over to sit on the couch, pulling her knees tight to her chest and closed her eyes. "I just want this to be over." She sighed, seeming distracted as always, "There has to be something we can do for Stefan. " Damon didn't know what was worse, Caroline considering the part she wanted to be over was when Stefan was back rather than this battle with the witches, or that this was all normal to her, so he only acknowledged her with a smirk and said nothing. Instead, stood to get a drink-assuming the manor still had a liquor cabinet intact.

He searched Klaus' kitchen, tearing apart the cabinets and laughed as each came up empty. Klaus loved his liquor, and if he didn't drink it all there had to be some kind of expensive bottle somewhere.  
Finally, he could be relieved. In the far back of the glassware cabinet was a bottle of run and from the looks of it, an old bottle. His favorite kind.  
Snatching it out, Damon returned to the living room to see Caroline staring up at the ceiling with a perplexed glaze.

"You know…I'm surprised you are okay with this." She pointed to the stairs, "I have to say, I am almost proud of you Damon!" She was keeping her voice low, just low enough so that the vampires upstairs couldn't hear but the Salvatore was still confused.

"What are you talking about?"

"Well…Elijah and Elena…"

Damon tilted his head to the side and raised an eyebrow in question as he stepped closer. "What about them Blondie?" he pestered only growing more impatient as Caroline's eyes only grew wider.

"Uh oh…You don't know do you?"

* * *

Even after feeding, Elena could see how weak Elijah was. Twenty years of desiccation had not done him well and the run back to the mansion (only to be stopped by the one straggling witch) had been too much at once and Elena wondered, for only a moment, if this had been a bad idea.  
Only for a moment.

"So…" Elena spoke quietly as they walked down the hall, keeping privacy was impossible in a house full of vampires, "I'll explain everything, I promise, but you may want to get cleaned up first.  
Elijah's eyes were still trailing the walls, looking for any minor changes in his home. _His home_, that Elena had commandeered too long ago.

"I know, we had no choice but to come here." She explained, reaching his room and placing her hand on the door knob. "Don't worry though, I made sure the bedrooms were untouched."  
She was lying. Elena had spent time in Elijah's bedroom whenever she needed to escape from her own mind. His scent was soothing to her, but not nearly as much as his presence was now.  
He nodded, still not speaking as they entered the large open aired room connected to his office. The king sized four poster bed was covered in deep blue sheets that looked untouched while the same books left out from twenty years ago when Elijah returned to Mystic Falls unknowingly to the younger vampire, on the night stand. Besides a coatrack kept carefully to the side, a throw rug, his bed and the nightstand, the room was frighteningly empty. He never had use for this house and it's memories (so he told her once long ago). His personal items remained in Pennsylvania, the place he had intended on staying for a long while.

"How do you feel?" Elena asked as he crossed the room, carefully sitting on the bed.

"Better." He replied with a harsh whisper, his eyes dropping to the ground, "Now, would you care to tell me why I woke up in this…I'm not even sure what to call it." He waved his hand towards the window in angst, and Elena sat on the floor in front of him, but looked away. The memories of how everything had turned upside down still plagued her dreams, whenever she actually slept. "Elena?"

She could feel his eyes digging into her skull and when she looked up to meet him, she almost couldn't recognize who was looking back at her. Elijah's softer expression towards her from twenty years ago was gone, replaced by a more dangerous, cold glare that was shrouded in confusion, anger and curiosity.

"Yes, Elijah?"

"Where is my family?" Elena's eyes widened, in all of her thoughts of what to expect, or what to say to the only "living" Original, she never even thought of how to tell him that his family is gone, she had become so used to death that it didn't faze her. "Elena…" he pushed her again when she was at loss for words and Elena could see that look in his eyes, he already knew. He always _knew._

"I am so sorry Elijah... Kol and Rebekah are..."

"And Nicklaus?" the Original cut her off, his brown eyes glassed over with a frantic worry.

"Klaus is…as alive as we can allow him to be." She braced herself for his anger, as for a split second in his unwavering gaze, she saw his eyes flash red.

"He was daggered."

It wasn't a question, but more of a brief heavy lament; even he knew that was where he should stay. "Is he safe?"

At times, Elena despised Elijah's devotion towards his family, but even she had that feeling deep inside that consideration, understanding and most of all…respect for him. She would stop at nothing to protect her family, and that was where she connected with the Original what felt like forever ago.

"Of course."

Elijah put his head in his hands, the first grey matter emotion he had shown since he arrived. He didn't understand, and Elena could tell he had so many more questions to come.

"So, is this what happens without my family? Everyone just goes rogue, killing the witches of all people?" There it was, the elephant in the room. Apparently Elijah was feeling better.  
With a sigh, Elena moved her hips to sit flat on the floor with her legs crossed, resting her chin on her knuckles, staring at Elijah's feel while she spoke. This physical closeness could have felt more natural, they never had this issue before, and while Elena could feel a hint of tranquility, she was unsure of what her counterpart was feeling. Everything was different now, it may have been twenty years for her but the awkwardness was much more recent for him.

"The witches believe we stole their powers, the vampires believe that the witches killed your brother and sister, therefore killing all of those in their bloodlines." She explained quickly, tired of reciting the same story over and over again in her mind.

"And what do you believe Elena?" It didn't seem he cared for any of the minor details, at least not yet.

"It doesn't matter what I believe Elijah." She replied quickly, getting to her knees to place her hands on his, "What matters is that we are trapped, left to fend for ourselves and not all of the vampires want to make friends."

Elijah gave a low chuckle and shook his head, "Have you considered speaking to said witches?" That cocky attitude seemed to come back full force as he was starting to feel better, not to Elena's surprise. Elijah always had an air of subtle arrogance about him, and it was nice to see he was getting back to his "pre-daggered" self.

"Oh we have but they aren't letting us get close enough…and well, we aren't exactly as friendly in return." Her voice was dark as she responded, adding an extra layer to their already strange reunion.

"So instead, you tear each other apart? That hardly seems logical to me…"She turned away from him at this point, having no answer to give, but the question alone corroded her peace of mind (this new…acquired feeling since returning to the mansion) nonetheless. The Original's words as light as they were, had been as powerful as a leading edge of a tornado, his tone only pushing her away when deep down she only wanted to get close.

"It's complicated Elijah…"

Even though she had mentally prepared to answer these questions…Elijah's tone was so different than she expected, he seemed almost angry with her, yet relieved at the same time. Each time she looked at him, she remembered why, but none of this was her fault.

Hoping to change the atmosphere, Elena finally took in Elijah's disheveled appearance. As understandable as it was (being dead for twenty years wouldn't allow you to come out looking like a supermodel) she felt the need to fix it. She stood, soon slipping into the bathroom, and filled a small basin with water and grabbed a rag from the shelf.

"I'm sorry," she quickly apologized, "the shower only works when it wants to and we also don't exactly have hot water." There were sill spots of blood on his face, and in the hopes of changing their tone she knelt before him again. "Are you feeling any better?" she could ask the same question over and over again not getting tired of it at all, but shook her head before he had the chance to answer and gently took the washcloth to his skin. Although it regained some color, it was still ashen from being desiccated, and she cleared his jawline carefully as if testing potentially dangerous waters.

"I'm sorry we are so limited on blood. I should be able to get more for you later without anyone noticing, it's just become so dangerous to retrieve it." Memories of Amelia Bennett flashed through her mind, young, powerful and hell bent on revenge Amelia, who was murdered by her own default.

Elijah put a hand over hers, lowering it back down towards her lap, but she found herself resting it casually on his knee, a gesture they used to be comfortable with, but now something seemed different even if his expression was relieved. "It's fine," he told her, and now even though his actions had shifted to cold, the Original's features lightened into a warm yet calculating manner. "You've changed Elena."

Taken aback by his observation, Elena's head shot up, "I survived." She replied defensively. "It may as well be war out there and we are hardly safe from the witches regardless of their weakened powers."  
She didn't want to argue here, but she also didn't want him to see what she had become, broken, tainted and a hypocrite.

Raising herself, she stood to leave and took over his appearance one last time, placing her hand on his shoulder and allowed it to linger there for just a moment. Maybe their positions were reversed now, but it didn't matter. There was still that awkward feeling that hung between them , but her guard, though weakened around him, would not falter. "I suggest you rest up now, because we have a lot to do later."

Rescuing Stefan being one of her main priorities, she walked to the door. She was going to need Elijah's help.

"I never got the chance to ask you…" he stopped her dead in her tracks, "Are you feeling all right?"

Her doe eyes widened as she turned her attention back unsure. Was there a correct answer for this? Did she have to tell the truth? "Of course." She gave him the brightest smile she gave him the brightest smile she could muster, something she had gotten very good at practicing, (even though nobody asked her anymore) but something flickered in his eyes-doubt- and she realized why. She told him she was fine, and for the first time in twenty years, someone noticed just how much of a liar she was. "I'm just happy that you are back."

Elijah nodded, running his fingers through the bowl of water without thought and a smile. That time, he knew she was telling the truth.

Elena closed the door behind her and moved against the wall to lean her back up against it. Elijah was right. He may not have said it out loud but his actions were his words and they spoke volumes. They could have done so much more to prevent this all from escalating, but they failed.  
She listened for a moment as Elijah moved into the bathroom and her heart ached for being away from him. She was torn however, his demeanor towards her had changed, but it could have just been due to the lack of blood (so she told herself).  
He couldn't possibly blame her for what happened could he? On the other side, Elena had twenty years to get over the embarrassment, Elijah was a different story. He didn't have the time like she did.

Breaking from the wall, the vampire moved down the hall and as she approached the stairs, a blur rushed before her, pushing her back against the railing.  
Ice blue eyes dug into her own like deep penetrating claws while his fingers pierced into her shoulders.

"Damon, what are you doing?" she growled, pushing the Salvatore off of her.

"You neglected to tell me about your little…affair with Elijah." He snapped in return, his eyes shooting with anger and jealousy, "How long had it been going on?"  
Elena stepped to the side, listening closely for the Original, but there wasn't a sound from the other side, maybe he was getting the rest he needed. Whatever he was doing, she didn't want him coming out (or overhearing) this conversation after all .

"It really was never your business," she taunted right back and automatically fell into a defensive stance. She wasn't about to let him do this to her.

"It is my business when my brother's life is at risk because you are acting like some love sick puppy Elena!"

"What!?" Elena's eyes became dark with anger, she knew this would happen, one way or another, but now was not the time or the place for this. "Damon you have no idea what you are talking about!" she was in his face now, his misunderstanding boiling the blood in her veins.

"Then why don't you enlighten me?" Damon's pain was as clear as day, he felt nothing but betrayed by her, "Because right now, I can't say things are looking too good."

Rolling her eyes and folded her arms over her chest, "After I left Mystic Falls Damon…" she sighed, "and what happened? It happened only once all right?" She didn't need to explain herself to him, but she did anyway, he was her friend still and she wasn't ready to lose that just yet.  
Damon scoffed in response, unwilling to back down, "What? No happily ever after for you two? Is that what this is about, looking for that second chance? Reignite a flame? What did you do Elena, leave him like you did me?"

Elena was still standing before him, and while she was tired, frustrated and hungry (giving her blood bag to Elijah) each muscle of hers were screaming to tear his throat out. Damon was forcing himself under her skin, forcing her to see what she had become, a cold hearted empty apparition of the person she used to be, but he was wrong. Another low growl erupted from her throat and the only emotion she could fall back on now was pure driven anger as it shot from her like a bolt of lightning the same speed she was on him, tossing him down the stairs and she landed on top of him with a thud with her knee positioned right into his ribcage.

He may have been older, and stronger, but Elena had the element of surprise and her fury coursed itself through her body like no other.

"You are wrong Damon." She hissed into his ear, the King Cobra, defeated by a viper. " .Me."  
She jumped off of him, straight to her feet, and offered a hand to the wounded Salvatore, but he refused, jumping up in a blur and soon, Caroline was by her side.

"Come on Blondie." Damon looked to her as he began to walk down the stairs, "Looks like we are going to have to save my brother without their help." Caroline glanced over to Elena, whose eyes were still blackened in hunger and anger and shook her head.

"I'm so sorry Elena…" she placed a hand on her friend's shoulder, and turned out the door to follow Damon.

"Wait! Let me-" she began, but Damon only looked to her again, his eyes, his expression only showing his resentment and betrayal.

Of course he had felt wronged by her, yet she still wasn't sure how to feel anymore.

_What happened to us?_

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_**As always, thank you for the reviews. The feedback on this story is absolutely shocking and loved. You guys are all amazing so thank YOU!**  
_

_**I hope you enjoyed this chapter, if anyone finds this confusing or anything to that degree, a lot of things are slowly being explained (very slowly sadly) the build up between Elijah and Elena will continue for a few more chapters via the flashbacks (and we will finally find out what happened between them) and we will also learn how the story began soon enough. Next chapter however, will be a journal entry, I figure a deeper look into Elena's thoughts are necessary, and that will be up I am aiming for the end of the week (I'm updating all three stories as consistently as possible so thank you all for sticking with me!) If you have any questions...do not hesitate to ask! :D  
**_

_**Please review :)  
**_


	9. Journal

**Chapter Eight  
Journal  
**

**February First 2113**

It's been one week since I've slept, and each day that passes is making it more and more difficult to keep going. Vampires don't need to sleep, but that doesn't mean we will function as well as we should.  
Now, everything is a blur. I thought that once we had Elijah back things would fall into place as they usually did when he was around. Everything would make more sense and maybe then the witches would listen to what we had to say, yet for some reason after hoping to be on a better path since, I still have this…strange empty feeling. It could stem from so many other events that have taken place before getting Elijah back, the death of Amelia being the most recent, but I know what it is…deep down.  
I know her death was not at my hands, but it was still caused by me. I can see it on her face, Caroline is broken…but I have nothing I can say. There is nothing that I can do for her even though I wish I could help. I know why she did it, I can understand and relate. We have all had to do things we didn't want to, and would never have done twenty years ago.  
We have all suffered, even the witches. There will never be a winner here. "

Most importantly, there was still Stefan. He needed our help and while I thought I was helping I only screwed everything up. Damon and Caroline have left to go and save Stefan without me, this was the friend that I had forced Damon to save Elijah for, this had all been my own cause.  
My doing, my fault. I risk getting him killed.  
Now I am wondering, (or knowing) that while looking back on the past day (onto my own actions first and foremost) I wonder if I was wrong, or If I was just selfish in my need to save Elijah.  
This was what I should have expected.

Now I'm sitting here, alone in the dark, the sun is going to rise in a few hours but not soon enough. My friends have left me, Elijah doubts me and my own morals are shattered to the ground while I am struggling to pick up the pieces.  
With each word I speak, each moment of grief, my fingers cut only to add lemon juice to the wounds.

This is not how things were supposed to be.

Regardless, here I am, still alive. So maybe I had to change a little and rip my own heart from my chest (as dramatic as it sounds, I can't help how I feel) and apparently of all of those around me simultaneously. They told me I was wrong to bring Elijah back now, (even if in some ways it remained unspoken) but is it so wrong to not want to be alone?

I miss having the feeling of being around someone who understood my intentions, never questioned my motives…or me. Sure we danced around the tone of death before, sure we have betrayed each other for our own morals and nearly gotten the other killed (technically we have both succeeded). Is it such a bad thing to say I need someone to just…get me? Do I risk sounding like a whiny teenager when I say it? Sure, does it matter?  
Not anymore.

Nothing else seems to matter anymore but survival.

I guess I am selfish, I guess everyone is alone in this.

We are all alone in this together.

Over the past hour I came to figure that this is where I stand when it comes to Elijah.  
I needed him, and he was my guidance, both my sword and shield to wield on demand. But most of all, I believe I once had feelings for him. It's not easy to explain (is it ever?) but that is the only reason I could come up with to account for what is happening. So much has happened between us, but where we left off right before everything turned upside down? I don't know if I could ever forget it. He was more important to me than I would ever have admitted in the past, and even after what happened between us, he will always have a place in my heart.

This is just something I have come up with when trying to rationalize why I would want to save him in the first place, and while it may not be as rational as I would like to believe, it helps me sleep at night, and we all need sleep.

It festered for the past twenty years anyway. The feelings for him (becoming worse when I realized my decision, that was made much earlier on, then I had realized that it was too late), and missing him only turned to hatred as I remembered he left me without even a bedside note.

I guess I sound a lot more confused than I need to. I guess Elijah and I were just much more complicated than we needed to be.  
I have a feeling Damon was right, and while I could never let him see just how right he was, it had to be true. I pushed him away, and most likely drove Elijah, one of the few friends I thought I had left, away as well.

I guess it doesn't matter anymore. Everything had changed, and to be honest I don't imagine life ever being the same again. Caroline will forever be haunted by Amelia's death, and while I doubt I will be getting over it anytime soon (ever), I will always hold on the brave front. It's not fair to push this all on her when she did it to protect me. What else could I ask for?

Of course I will do it, but that doesn't mean that I am not sick and tired of being brave.  
I am sick and tired of fighting.  
I thought it would all be over now that the doppelganger line had been severed, I thought we could all live remotely normal lives. Hell, even Jeremy refused to have children of his own in fear of his ancestor being hunted down by Klaus or his hybrids. It ended his marriage in the long run, but he promised me it was worth it.

They all suffered for me, and that is wrong. He told me he never wanted anyone else to go through what I had to and for that I was silently grateful. I had never wanted to be anyone's Katherine, and most of the time I never wanted to be my own Elena but the idea of another Petrova doppelganger?  
No thank you.

So was I wrong to think the drama would be over? I didn't think so, but apparently I was more wrong than ever.

It didn't help that, while knowing this was not about me, I could have prevented it all which Elijah not so politely reminded me.  
Maybe I needed his wake up call more than I thought, and of course, as they always seemed to when I get lost in my thoughts, all of the roads lead back to him and now I don't know which direction to take.

I feel too cold now, and my own desperate need for sleep is driving me. Only I know what will plague me once I close my eyes, all I need is to find my comfort zone.  
I thought that I had, was it taken away that quickly?

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**Okay so...I am apologizing now for the atrocity of this chapter, but I found a journal entry in Elena's point of view ( a bit more direct than the usual point of view) to be important to explain a little deeper to what is happening in Elena's mind as all of this is happening since I know she is coming off as cold or having "changed" and also the next chapter is giving me a really hard time so this is a nice...lighter (but slightly angsty) change for me. I apologize ten thousand times over for how short it is,and also how irritating my first person POV is, because let's be realistic...it sucks.**

**Anyway, leave a review if you feel like being kind lol I'm not sure when the next chapter is going to be up but I am thinking it will exceed this horrible rendition of a journal entry.**

**Oh and just a side note, this will probably be the LAST journal entry. I didn't realize how horrible of an idea it was ha ha**

In the next chapter we will have a strictly Elijah/Elena scene with some flashbacks, then the chapter after that will most likely be strictly Caroline and Damon with some more flashbacks. look forward to those, and possibly hope you enjoyed this one!


	10. It's Just Us Now

**This chapter is ridiculously long, and I hope it makes up for the long wait! This one is more EE centric and probably the only chapter 100% on them, everything that happens here needed to happen all in one chapter, and the chapter after this will be focused on Damon/Caroline/Stefan. I hope you enjoy and I really hope this makes up for the horrid last chapter :)  
**

* * *

**Chapter Nine  
It's Just Us Now**

Elena put her pen down onto the floor where she sat in the study adjoining Elijah's bedroom. She could hear him, he was stirring slightly in his sleep.  
Sleep.  
Oh how she missed it, even a vampire needed to sleep at some point. It was clear that even Elijah, who had been dead for the past twenty years could drift into slumber, even he could allow it to take over.  
For a moment, she worried about him, the spell that had been cast was powerful so she couldn't help but be concerned that these were after effects.

She could check on him, just to make sure he is all right. The idea was tempting but she figured that leaving him alone would be best.  
Time passed slowly as she sat against the wall surrounded by the darkness and her mind began to drift. She was alone. The feeling was not just in the words on a page anymore it seemed. Damon and Caroline left her, she was told some vampires remained hidden in the house out of fear of another attack, but no one had surfaced since they arrived (and to be honest, even if they had come out, Elena had never even bothered to learn their names so it wouldn't have made a difference.)

The vampire shook her head, frustrated with her own subconscious and brushed off her jeans as she stood since the room had a layer of dust formed on the paneling, and used the wall as a guide. She could see well enough in the dark, but she hadn't fed in too long, so she was beginning to feel groggy. Back before she turned, it would take even longer to feel the effects from lack of feeding for other vampires, now though, the vampires were not able to feed as often as necessary, making them much more vulnerable to their emotions, starvation and fatigue.  
_Later_ she told herself, she would feed another time.

The office was adjoined to Elijah's bedroom, separated by a simple wooden door which Elena always made a point to keep locked (even though it wouldn't do any good in a house full of vampires and witches running about). Lightly, she clicked it open and took a step into his room.  
She could see him clearly, laying on his back with the sheet gently wrapped around his body and she could smell the gentle scent of ivory soap coming through the room from the bathroom, out the window that was open only an inch.

"_I could use some air, I'm feeling a tad…dead."_

She smiled at the thought while she approached as quietly as she could, wishing she were able to levitate slightly off of the ground.  
Elijah, as deadly as he was at full strength, looked incredibly peaceful with his arm wedged under the pillow above his head.  
Just as she had twenty years ago, Elena couldn't help but examine his bare chest, this time feeling much more free to look rather than shy away as she had done before. She wondered how many scars he would have, had he remained human. Chances are, he had no idea, or didn't have any in the first place. Elijah was hardly one to scuff his shoes, even when he needed to lift a finger to maintain order. Elena, on the other hand, made it her personal life goal to get in the middle of a fight, but she could tell you exactly where she would have one, and why, the more recent being from Amelia, which would belong right over her ribcage, where the stake missed her heart.  
However, now Elijah (just like herself) looked untouched in appearance, but Elena couldn't help but realize that the Original wasn't tainted by the past twenty years. He was a fresh new presence with no recollection of being trapped in between two warring sides.

He was the pure one now, he was her escape.

Slowly, she lowered herself onto the mattress and watched him, his clear, peaceful aura relaxed even her, the monster torn between the hardened warrior and fearful girl inside of her. For once, she was near someone who wasn't worried about the witches, hadn't seen the death and destruction from both sides.

This was what she needed. Even if she was tentative, her wrists trembled as she balanced herself on the bed when the sudden relaxed feeling washed over her once more from the last man she cared for before all of this started.

Gently and unsure if she was doing the right thing, Elena lowered her head against his chest, using her hand to keep a small amount of space between the touch of her face and his skin. At first, he stirred, his arm sliding out from under the pillow to rest comfortably around her in his sleep, instinctually pulling her closer like she was a blanket. The younger vampire froze in concern, thinking he was waking up, but instead sighed with a new found ease, and closed her eyes to listen to the silence. For the first time in twenty years, she couldn't hear her own panicked thoughts and concerns, there was nobody hovering in her ear, telling her to worry or any reason to panic. Not now.  
Finally, she was at peace, and with that peace of mind, sleep found her.

_Elena hadn't intended on staying in Elijah's home for as long as she was. It had already been three days, but of course he hadn't complained. Instead he would tell her how it was a pleasant change to have company and she was always welcome. He was too polite to be rude and they were friends after all, they had been for so many years. He was one of her most trusted friends besides Bonnie and Caroline of course. He was always her "outsider's perspective" on everything on the inside of her circle and they (mostly her) would talk over coffee at least once a week, no matter where he was.  
That was why it hurt her to see him leave for good._

"_You never told me why you left."_

_Today, the weather was disagreeable. Bouts of rain pounded the glass to the window of the den, then the sun would come out for a peak, leaving dried splotches on the pane so Elena, dressed in pink yoga pants and a black t-shirt spent the early morning curled up on the couch with a book, waiting for Elijah. He, as promised, had been helping her, showing her how to fend for herself. It was a strange agreement on his end (even more so for her to ask, as she barely witnessed him so much as lift a finger besides once in a blue moon) but he obliged daily, working with her on the simpler defensive moves all while they caught up on both their uneventful pasts._

"_You never asked Elena." He replied carefully choosing each word as he always did, "I thought it wouldn't matter." His reply was dry; his back turned towards her as he watched the clouds roll by, moving on for the next surge of rain._

"_Why wouldn't it matter?" she returned, not looking up from the book she was reading (really more thumbing through)._

"_I figured you had your own things to deal with, I wasn't the most integral part of your life if you forgot…" he barely turned back to her as he spoke, but the words sliced through her like butter._

"_You are avoiding my question." She stated bluntly, her voice becoming rougher with frustration as she eyed him through her lashes._

"_You're right, I am." This time he turned to face her, "And I don't know if I intend to answer."_

_He was so smug, which only made Elena's blood boil even more, she deserved an answer even if he felt like being difficult. Rolling her eyes at him, Elena crossed her legs under her body and closed her book, crossing her arms with a defiant stare. "All right fine, have it your way."_

"_I usually do." He teased (although he was very serious) and Elena only scrunched her nose in response._

"_I'm serious Elijah." She droned, "I missed our coffee breaks." She had never admitted it out loud since when he left her friends practically threw a party in the streets with the newer goal to get rid of Klaus and Rebekah any way they could-with Damon leading the charge.  
The Original chuckled heartily, crossing to the other side of the room, closest to the doorway._

"_I left…I left because I had nothing holding me in Mystic Falls."_

_Suddenly, the tone became more dark than necessary, and Elena felt a world of emotions crash around her, if even for a moment. She had thought that after all of the years they had known each other, they became much closer than that. After all, how many friendships start out with not-so-idle threats, then fierce negotiations and trusting a stranger to allow her to die at her own terms?  
None that Elena could think of, but from that, they grew silently closer until she turned, and it wasn't long after her transition, that their friendship really began to flourish. He was her safety net whenever she needed one the most. He was her escape. _

"_What about me?" she squeaked out through thinned lips, feeling a new level of shy, something she never felt towards the Original before, but it was a question that she had to ask. It was clear that besides Rebekah, Elena was most affected by Elijah's abrupt departure, so being told he had "no reason to stay" hurt._

"_You had your hands full with Damon, and I am no fool to see that he did not appreciate our friendship." He seemed reserved to admit his logic, but Elena could understand. Elijah always held a strong, confident front when it came to the Salvatore, but she knew that he found Damon's behavior frustrating. He had better things to do than be bothered by the behavior of a "younger" vampire however that didn't mean Damon made any effort to keep his emotions low key._

"_But I still…I needed you Elijah." She still did, in a strange masochistic way, a way that while being around Elijah was comfortably numbing; it was equally as heart wrenching.  
He was her safe haven._

"_Yes well, Elena, we all feel that we need things that we fear we can never have."_

_But he __could__. She was always there for him when he needed her, just as he had been for her. "What would you do if you could though?" the words spilled out, without anything to stop it. She was testing the waters, allowing her feet to dip in. He was much more important to her than she led on, she wasn't being polite when she told him that she needed him. She really did, just as she always did. In a way, they were co-dependent on each other and the thought (or memory) of being without him seemed surreal, and not in a good way. Things were right in front of her, just as they always had. She just chose to avoid hurting those closest to her, ignoring anything that could have meant more than a friendship. _

"_The option has never been mine unfortunately." He responded softly, his eyes drifting to another place and time, as they always did._

"_And if it was?" _

_Maybe Elijah had misunderstood her at first, but the second time around, it was as if he was struck by lightning, each memory of their late night strolls, talks over coffee and now –the present- it was as if time had frozen between them. Now, his attention had snapped back to her, shock- not surprise-, and a perplexing gaze was focused on her, but he softened with a smile but said nothing as he turned to exit the room._

The slightest stir jarred Elena from her sleep, but she was too afraid to move, her body remained lifeless hoping she was still dreaming. This was the first time that she had slept in a week, and when she remembered whom she had fallen asleep with she continued to hope she had been dreaming, she didn't want to face him in this awkward situation.  
Elijah had rolled onto his side, somehow still sleeping (Elena had expected to have woken him up when she got in the bed,), she still wondered if he was all right but even in his sleep he looked much better than he had earlier. A shower and change of clothes (or lack thereof in this case) really had done well for his appearance, and even his features seemed at peace instead of the former distraught, almost frightened and confused stares she received earlier. Elena wasn't convinced though, she refused to believe that this sleepiness was normal even though she couldn't deny being able to find comfort against him, even if the lost time hadn't ended well between them. It was his current presence alone that she felt safe.  
Shifting her legs , Elena hadn't realized she was wrapped tight in a blanket now, which was something she knew she hadn't done, so Elijah was awake.  
"You talk in your sleep" it was as if he were answering her thoughts, digging into her mind as she slept. She knew vampires could "dream walk" in a sense by controlling the visions, had he given those to her? "I had almost forgotten."

Even after spending so much time with him in the past, the younger vampire always forgot just how much he knew about her. She was bare to him, but never vulnerable. In fact, his knowledge of her allowed Elena to use him as her shield and sword since they both would easily work against each other's weaknesses, it had helped a lot while he was teaching her.

"How long have you been up?" she grumbled as he pulled away to look at her. She was convinced he was awake for longer than he let on, and now he was covering that thought by pretending this was new. Elijah stared at her, trying to read her expression, but over the years if there was one thing that his counterpart had learned, it was how to keep her emotions hidden.

With a dry tone, he replied "Long enough," and moved to sit up while sliding her head against the pillow. She was feeling thoroughly empty, since she remembered that they had nothing to offer each other this time around.

"Do you feel okay? You were asleep for a while."  
Elijah nodded while pushing his legs off of the bed, his feet hitting the floor quietly. He was always so quiet, everything about him relied on stealth after all. It made for less of a mess.

"I'm all right. Only so many things that I can feel at the moment however." He didn't want to talk it seemed, and his sense of finality in his tone made Elena's skin chill, she had been in that place before, the last time she saw him.

_ Elena's head crashed against the hardwood floor with a crack, and she could feel the split of her cranium just where the ponytail was holding high. It was strange being a vampire, pain was different and sometimes more euphoric than ever before without the fear of death looming over each cut and scrape._

"_Stop being so distracted Elena." Elijah's voice was not worried, he knew she would heal (in fact, she already had, the sticky sensation where the bone mended was not something easily forgotten), "You are too slow."_

_He didn't even reach out a hand to help her to her feet, but she hopped up anyway, turning to where she landed to see the bloody impression on the floor. Her blood, but she felt nothing._

"_I'm not distracted," Elena lied, pulling down her black sweatshirt. In truth, she was irked. It had been almost a week since she had subtly hinted her feelings for him, the realization of how much she missed him when he left had brought out something unexpected in her, like a postulating wound ready to burst but when it did it was left open by Elijah to burn._

"_There is no use in lying to me Elena," he stepped back against the opposite wall, putting more distance between himself and his mock opponent. "What is on your mind?"  
Patting her fist into her open palm, Elena shook her head, her ponytail was beginning to become loose from the dried blood that had formed, but she didn't notice, or care._

"_Nothing." She tapped her toes onto the floor before appearing in front of the Original, "Can we just continue please?"_

_He barely nodded before grabbing her rough by the shoulders and moved to switch their positions, shoving her roughly against the wall, but this time she was prepared and pushed him away to slam him against that same wall even harder, hoping to leave a mark. _

"_See?" he laughed as his eyes teased her, lightly pushing her away. "Not that hard now is it?"_

_He was mocking her now and it drove her insane. It was like his own way of casual flirting (though the thought of Elijah flirting was one big joke, he was always so serious so the "art of courting", as she was sure he would call it, would be rare) and in return she would only improve. Maybe that was his intent, to piss her off enough to try for the upper hand._

"_Funny." She repined, allowing him to situate him own t-shirt that he wore. "Maybe you are the one who is distracted."_

_It was a joke of course. Elijah Mikaelson never got distracted (even thinking about it seemed foreign) but he __did__ fumble as it seemed. _

_Elena didn't see it happen, like a whirlwind of power sweeping her off of her feet, and not in a romantic way, Elena was back on the ground. The sudden force, and the way she fell, broke her back for a moment. She couldn't be sure though since the bones mended back together as if they were magnetized by each other, just as the two bodies crashed together.  
She gasped from the sudden sharp pain as it traveled right to the base of her skull, but there was a pressure on her chest that nearly collapsed her lung._

"_You could be dead right now."_

_Elijah would always be stronger than her, that she knew, so it was no surprise that he could overpower her so easily by simply pressing her against the ground. She was sure even if they were both human she would have no chance, but she would fight like hell._

"_But I'm not." She kept humble even in her sarcasm, she had her hand pressed flat against the Original's chest, the place his heart lie not beating and he was only inches away from her, but had he been a "normal" vampire she could have killed him, ripped his heart right from his chest. And he knew it, and with that realization, Elijah shifted over her, his leg brushing lightly against the exposed skin where her pants had ridden up from the crash, but it was in only a moment she needed to take advantage of his lack of concentration to grab him by the throat to rapidly switch their positions. _

_Simultaneously and both breathing heavily, his breath was hot against her lips (a feeling Elena never understood, vampires didn't need to breathe) which were dangerously close to hers, barely an inch away from each other and Elena could only feel the tension rising. She needed to break it, before it –he-broke her._

"_I think I won." She said with a sly smile, "Three touch right? Isn't that the game?" They had been playing this for days, and each time Elijah dominated over her while trying to teach her at the same time so she didn't hide her pride._

_This time, she was proud, but Elijah only let out that usual cocky laugh he would get when she was being foolish._

"_What's so funny?" She tilted her head, her ponytail falling by the side of his face, barely brushing his cheek._

"_It's whoever gets to three __first__ Elena."_

_Another blur of Elena's vision, sharp and sudden was rough as she was spun around again trying to fight off her opponent (her mentor) off, but he held her wrists tight to the floor. Pretty soon if her body continued slamming into the floor, there would be a hole going right into the basement._

"_You cheated!" she growled, unable to overpower him as he lowered his head to her ear. _

"_No, you ignore the rules to fit your advantage." The irony was fitting, Elijah was always fond of bending the rules to his need, using anything in his path as he once did to her. But now, he was so close to her and Elena could feel her throat tighten, unable to speak from her own anticipation. Her emotions were skyrocketing through her pores (since sweat didn't escape) his closeness was dangerously poisonous to her and she had no words to explain it all in her mind. There was no reasoning besides pure emotion now.  
It had to be the vampire in her, and her constant desire to have control, it was what drove her to Elijah since day one, and why he was driving her insane right now. He just took her control away, which was the reason she was fighting against him so frivolously._

"_I do not." She grunted, struggling against him, using her legs to wrap around his waist which only brought him closer. She could still control him, even if he was practically breaking her wrists. "You could let me go."_

"_I could, but it is refreshing to see you squirm."_

_She allowed her body to fall limp as her head rolled to the side so she could stare into the shadow of his face as he turned slightly to see her as well. A new air came between them after a brief moment of silence, he wasn't letting her go._

"_Thank you." She partially mouthed the words, knowing he could hear her just fine, and with them, the atmosphere of the room began to change._

"_For what?" he asked after brief reservation as if trying to determine what she was thanking him for and still wasn't sure. _

"_For not slamming the door in my face when I showed up in the middle of the night." Elena could feel Elijah's grip loosen just enough so she could flex her joints, but he knew she wouldn't fight him at this moment. He knew, so he took advantage of her lapsed security, weakened by his presence. But to keep her strong front, she refused to move her legs, equally as domineering but on the other half, but also wouldn't move his wrists as long as she didn't move either._

"_Why would you think I could turn you away Elena?" he smoothed over as his lips grazed hers while he spoke. Alarmingly close with no sense of person space (when had she lost hers as well?), the brushing feeling caused her to part her own lips in surprise, it was as if they nearly kissed, taking the air right from her lungs even though ironically it was his sister that committed that act, with no fault to him. He moved again to look directly into her dilated brown eyes, still not releasing her wrists but Elena could feel the familiar sensation of his thumb sliding gently to her upward facing palm with his eyes darted over her features rapidly in question, as if asking for permission._

"_Why not?" she tried to dig her head deeper into the floor, but it was impossible, "You said yourself that you had nothing keeping you in Mystic Falls." Now that he was above her again, she couldn't prevent her eyes from looking up at him, but zeroing in on his bottom lip, which he had pulled in slightly , something he always did when in a tempting challenge.  
Tempting? Challenge?  
She would take what she could get._

_Any onlooker would find this compromising position questionable, and fear for Elena's life. After all, a man who was holding her on the ground by her wrists above her head, having himself placed between her legs looked more dangerous than it really was.  
What they didn't see were the stares, the woman using her legs to manipulate him slightly closer against him, while more interesting thoughts pounded into her mind._

"_Are you driving this conversation in a direction I should know about?" he questioned, a glimpse of perseverance in his eyes only making Elena more uneasy. He was too tantalizingly close and she was trapped, both physically and emotionally in this moment but nothing was changing, even the slight dull pain of his hands on her bone, now held together by one while his other –more dominant-hand was placed close to her hip for balance._

"_No." she replied innocently, her doe eyes looking up to him._

"_We talked about your habit of lying Elena," he was stern, yet soft, leaning closer to his "trainee" could smell his very specific-possibly exotic-cologne. Of course it was so slight (tasteful, even for a vampire) that even with her vampire senses she would have missed it._

_Maybe that was just the way he smelled. _

"_I don't lie." She teased, lifting her head off of the floor just enough to touch right under the bridge of his nose. She expected him to move away, her entire reasoning for making the move as a way to see how close she could get, but he only loosened his grip at the contact, but still held on curiously. _

_Elena Gilbert could be a powerful force as well if (and when) she wanted to be, and here there was no structure. They were both two forces caught up in each other and without any "real" foreplay, she knew that sometimes you just have to dive in and __take__ what you wanted._

_She caught his lips with her own, pushing as close as she could, and expected him to pull away this time and chide her for getting distracted; but instead, she felt the pressure build so naturally, so evenly as if it worked to compliment the other side. He matched her lips, following __her__ movements now and placed his free hand on her hip bone, his other still holding her wrists-his own way of fighting for control- . _

_For a moment, to her own distress, he pulled away just enough so his lips were still against hers, perpetually the romantic (an idea Elena always had, but never confirmed)._

"_Are you trying to distract me?" Each movement of his lips tingling her own nearly causing her to pinch them with her teeth, her frustration was only growing. Apparently, bringing out the fight in the vampire brought out much more._

"_No, I don't think so." She smiled, he legs still wrapped tightly around his waist, gripping him with her knees like riding a horse, but the eldest vampire to walk to the earth, while beautiful and majestic in his own way like a stallion, was much more lethal when disturbed. She used that grip to regain her ground, switching positions again, taking a turn to lace her fingers into his. They had danced before, so this comfort wasn't foreign and in her current predicament it was enjoyable since all of her senses were in overdrive now._

_Elijah parted his lips to protest, but Elena only caught them just in time, focusing a light tug on his bottom lip again forcing him to sigh into her. Everything about him was tormenting and now that she knew what his kiss tasted like, she wasn't sure he would be able to stop. It was purely driven animalistic passion now, the Elena he used to know was broken, but now she was mended-and decisive- and she wanted him._

_Her tongue ran over his teeth, begging for him as she pressed her body closer against his. This acceptance, allowing her to use him as she always would, was what she needed and even as she tightened her grip on his hands, feeling him give into her this time, just as she gave into him.  
Elena lowered her lips to his neck, traveling slowly down over his adam's apple (the tempting apple from the snake? The symbolism was uncanny) but she continued down to the base of his throat to the blood pounding in his veins. She wanted to taste it, taste him and went to nip playfully and released his hands to be fair in an attempt to contain his focus elsewhere, but instead she found her back against the wall behind her, a distraught, but not angry Elijah holding her off of the floor as her legs were still wrapped around his waist. _

"_Well Elena…" he growled tastefully into the crease of her neck, "You aren't doing a very good job."  
He didn't stop her, or ask why she wanted him. If he knew, it didn't matter; none of it mattered as strangely as it was. She didn't care if he was using her, it wasn't important._

_She wanted this._

_Holding her up against the wall, Elena's hands moved to his back to feel each muscle flexed through the cotton of his shirt, nearly cutting through the fabric. She wanted to see it, she needed to relish in him._

"_Maybe I'm not trying." She gasped as the Original smiled into her, the air pressing onto her skin to make him shiver, he didn't need to kiss her, the air alone was exciting her in a way she never felt before.  
She was caught in the moment, her nails digging into his neck now, pulling her body higher against the wall as she forced him in for another kiss, looking into his eyes and for a moment she could have sworn his eyes had blackened, something she had never seen from the Original vampire. _

_Vampires didn't sweat, their bodies were like flesh coated metal, cold and stiff, except now. The skin of her arms tugged on the back of his shoulders, sliding as their tongues dances "properly" around each other while his hand moved up her shirt, gently caressing her skin. Usually he was prim and proper, his suit pressed and never with a wrinkle, stone faced and frozen. In this moment he was out of his usual attire, a different man, but Elena wasn't complaining. She could only imagine, as she pulled his shirt over his head (a feat quite difficult when balancing with her legs around his waist) how much more difficult it would have been had he been wearing a suit._

_Now, holding her pinned against the wall, off of her feet he wasn't just the man she wondered of, but the beast inside had clawed itself out using her as his target like a succubus draining the life of her (his) prey. But she had no life to give until she was empty, no heartbeat, no essence, so he could have her for as long as he needed. _

"_Elijah-" she let out a moan as his hand moved up the front of her shirt while her own ran though her own hair in lost ecstasy , giving him each part of her she could as the tie keeping the strands back were tossed carelessly to the side._

_He could have her down bare in hardly a second's time, but while moving passionately and recklessly, he still took his time with her figure, allowing his fingers to scale the contours of her body to move across the skin like it told a story._

"_Elena" he returned ravenously, gripping her face with one hand as if trying to control her, when really he was turning into the persistent one, but there was no protest coming from her.  
His breath was a hot rush on her lips as she smiled, accomplished. "What do you want?"_

_She laughed.  
It was so like him to question himself or others and it may have taken a few minutes, but after the surge of emotions and purely driven sexual tension, she had him back._

"_You" she replied, kissing him again, "Always you."_

_His hand was still under her shirt, twisting the skin of her hip but used his arm to push the cloth up, making it easier for her to take it off, allowing her bare skin to stick against the wall which was now hot from their friction. Elena could feel his growing attraction against her as he pushed harder, taking in each inch of free skin with his lips that he could reach as his hand moved under the waist of her drawstring pants, touching her right where it mattered most and she groaned as her body molded against his hand forcing her feet to the ground where she melted into his lips. _

_His fingers moved inside of her, and she heard him laugh, pleasured by how ready for him she already was, waiting for him, nearly steaming as she tugged at his face, the sense of euphoria overcoming her._

_She could overpower him in this weakened state, but she too was defenseless against him. He could play her like a tune to a fiddle, and the moans and muttered curses could be it's…horribly written song, but Elena only grew in impatience, and had his sweatpants down to his ankles, leaving him exposed. He knew what she wanted, they were both burning for it, and that burn wasn't about to subside with the cooling breeze coming through the room._

_He was faster than she had anticipated when she realized she was only in her underwear, hardly feeling her feet lifted off the ground to enable him to toss her pants to the other side of the room. It was strange, seeing Elijah like this, but not discomforting, but with her of all people yet she was gladly accepting the advancement and showed just that as she moved her hand to his boxers, wrapping her fingers around his length as his own were busy tending to her needs (each and every one of them) until lifting her off her feet once again, his hands gripping her thighs to pull off the pair of underwear she was wearing (which she would now never wear again due to his force) and shifted her over him so he could enter her now pulsating insides, kissing her to catch the moan from her lips. Even as her skin ground roughly against the wall, scratches surely being left down her spine a she could feel the skin mending together again while Elijah thrust slowly into her, using the wall and her body for balance. _

_She wasn't bothered by his pressure, more like proverbial waves of the ocean pounding onto the shore, lessening as he would pull out, only leaving her to beg ruthlessly for more and to utter curse words as he gave in, again and again. He had her right on the edge of her climax, dancing around the pulsating feeling she refused to believe he couldn't feel as strongly as she did. _

_The motions could have gone on for hours, her body continuously begging for more, her brain seemingly connected to her mouth as she screamed his name when she reached her climax under Elijah's demand, each muscle twitching relentlessly and contorting in ways she didn't imagine even as a vampire shoved against a wall by someone much stronger than her. Elijah released, filling her with a low groan as well, kissing her hard on the mouth, as their breaths shifting between each other like two angry bulls ready to strike. But they weren't about to strike, they were in the passion of a battle between sexes, and if you asked Elena-Elijah won. _

"_Wow." Was all she could say, placing her forehead against his, and he was still inside of her with a triumphant smirk, like a cat that just caught it's prey while she was nearly panting like a dog (in contrast to the cat)_

"_Bed?" he questioned as she kissed him again, his breathing also labored. Even vampires, as it seemed could get excited enough to have shortness of breath and Elena simply nodded, locking his lips with hers as he pulled (more like pried) her off the wall to bring her into the next room before she could say anything else (vampire speed was useful on many occasions) to __his__ bedroom and allowed her to fall on the mattress so he could place himself on top of her, running his fingers through her now knotted hair. _

_He slipped out of her, rolling to the side so Elena could turn into his body and grinned weakly before kissing him again. She could finally see the outside darkness, with no moon shining in with nothing more than the dark blanket above them and not a sound from the wildlife outside. Even they were shrouded in darkness with nothing more than their heightened senses to guide them. _

_She wasn't sure what to do now, should she… thank him? That would be ridiculous, after all they weren't together (although now she wasn't sure what was happening) and she was never sure of how Elijah saw her anyway he has used her to further his goals, befriended her, and became an ally but this was new territory for them both, but at the moment it was irrelevant._

"_Okay." She sighed, responding to a question that he never asked, "I'll talk to you tomorrow."_

Elena had fallen asleep after that, expecting a new day- a new start, but the next morning when she woke up hoping to start off with Elijah, she found when she got out of bed that there was no sign of him anywhere.  
He was gone.  
She waited a half hour, each minute a new worry running through her mind, wondering if he had changed his choices? Had he realized he made a mistake and left the house to cut ties completely?

She never gave him the chance to explain, and left to head back home to Mystic Falls-if that was even her home anymore.

Looking back on it in the present, it was a foolish thing to do, but she felt betrayed, tossed to the side as if she were nothing.  
He hurt her…

"Elena?" Elijah brought her attention back to his unwavering gaze, "Are you all right?"

His concern was deafening to her ears with the now resurfaced anger and frustration.

"You left." She stated bluntly as if she didn't care, staring at him only while she swung her feet off of the bed.

"I did?" he countered, he was in his closet now, shifting through his clothing as if to make sure it was all accounted for.

"You did."

"That's funny, because I remember it quite differently." He wouldn't look at her as he chose a dress shirt, dark red in color, "But right now that is unimportant."

In shock and desperation, Elena's emotions took over again, "Well it is to me. I woke up the next morning after what happened and you were gone Elijah!" she kept her voice low to contain her own disheveled emotions.

"Elena I-" he was caught off guard, turning to her sharply "I went out for forty-five minutes to take care of something, you woke up…or so I thought considering we had a conversation when I told you I would be back. I come home to see you were gone. Why do you think I returned to Mystic Falls?"

Shaking her head in disbelief, she only became more enraged.

"If that is what really happened" she began carefully, "then I would find that important to bring up. So tell me…if that isn't what you classify as important Elijah, what is then?" she tried to never raise her voice, or be angry with the Original, but he was trying her patience. She had allowed this to build up for twenty years and he was shooing it like she was a fly.

"You, Elena. You are more important. You are breaking down the center, wearing yourself down. You are too strong for this and that is much more important to me than rehashing the past."

She was breaking, as if it were happening right in front of him not that the damage hadn't already been done so pressing the issue wouldn't do either of them any good.

"Don't worry about me." Her voice was drifting in the air as she watched him button his shirt.

"I would, but you weren't in my bed because you were happy." He turned to grab a pair of pants and then moved to face her again, his presence was close…but not close enough. "You haven't slept?"

It was a rhetorical question, and had this been anyone else she would have gotten angry, yelled, stormed off, maybe even slammed a door or two, but this was Elijah, and he didn't have time for that.

"No, not until now."  
There was no use in lying.

"I am sorry Elena." He apologized, but she didn't know why he was sorry, unless there was an underlying meaning that she was missing out on.

"Why?"

"Everything that is happening, most which I still don't understand. I am sorry you have to go through this, and I am sorry if you feel alone."

She cocked her head to the side in response, distress clouding her vision, she wasn't sure what to say, but after much deliberation she spoke softly, "It wasn't supposed to be like this."

"No, it wasn't. But that is not your fault." He was slipping on his pair of pants on now, and Elena kept her eyes to the ground.

Nobody had told her that it wasn't her fault before, instead the time was spent pushing the blame on others, but something about Elijah made all of that not matter anymore as if was the band-aid.

"Elena…"he was standing before her now, "If you continue to pity yourself how will you ever move on?" he kept a cold front ahead of him even if he was physically close. "I don't want to see you get stuck in a similar cycle as I did or even Stefan and Damon. You are better than us, stronger and I shouldn't have to say this to you."

Straightening her back, Elena brushed herself off with a smile, this time it could be real. "You're right." She stood to meet his gaze, a new feeling of power taking over. "Thank you Elijah. I guess I needed that."  
And again, and again…and again. Elena knew it was going to be a long road, whether it be rebuilding her potential for her relationship with Elijah (had there been one she wasn't positive), straightening out her own mind or rebuild her town, her home. She had to figure out what to do next.

She would work out everything else later.

* * *

**It may be a while until I get the next chapter up, this one took a lot longer than I expected and I have my other two stories to work on, but I say in about two weeks I will have the next chapter up but I will aim for sooner :)**

**I hope you enjoyed and please review 3  
**


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